


The hatchling.

by Mask_Writes_Fanfics



Category: Hellboy (Comics), Hellboy (Movies 2004-2008), Hellboy - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, I need to write this and at least one other person agrees with me!, Listen I got no idea what I'm doing so bear with me, Well two actually, a stupid little au, and i'm here for it, but here we are, cause you know what, let Edith say fuck she deserved better, like... this was a tumblr post, or three idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mask_Writes_Fanfics/pseuds/Mask_Writes_Fanfics
Summary: What went wrong? did anything go wrong at all? what was the ritual supposed to do anyways? All Langdon knows is that he is now stuck with a newborn that looks like a fish and he has no idea how to break it to Edith. (AU were Abe comes out of the rock/egg on the ritual instead of Caul getting possesed...)
Relationships: Edith Caul/Langdon Everett Caul
Kudos: 6





	1. Newborn.

**Author's Note:**

> Quick notes, in this AU Caul and Edith's marriage is a happy one, Edith can kick your ass, Caul is a drunk bi disaster and this is an overall fix-it-all AU that came from tumblr, don't take it seriously...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something went wrong, it surely did, or not, who knows, the onmy important thing is what is that creature!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bare with me, this hopefully will make sense

What just happened? Had the ritual gone wrong? God, what was that thing? All Langdon knew is that at one moment he and the rest of the society were chanting in and at the other the object on his hands started to violently shake and shatter while emmaning a strange smoke from each crack.

Why did he drop it? " _You idiot_ , coward!" he told himself, as he backed off from the smoke and remains of what appeared to be an egg shell. 

_"This was a mistake, I shouldn't have taken that thing in the first place, god, what have I done"?_ among gasps of shock and awe the smoke dissipated as a strange liquid damped the cloth over the table, revealing a small humanoid creature covered in what looked like amniotic fluid, a set of gills around its neck. The fish like being moved as if it was scanning the room full of curious faces.

"What is that?" Exclaimed one of the men, "What are we going to do with it?" Followed another, questions and more questions flooding the air, Langdon stood in place,silent, not sure on what to do, his hands were trembling and he hadn't been able to breathe properly ever since the egg hatched, was it his fault? Had he mixed up the words? Maybe he forgot ones ,the creature was looking at him, or was it? Was his mind playing tricks on him? It seemed like whatever had come out of that egg was crawling towards him.

Before anyone could do anything the creature abruptly stopped and fell to the table, starting to trash and gasp as if it lacked air, gills frantically moving up and down as everyone stood around it completely frozen in place, "Quick, put it on water!" Caul exclaimed as he tried to figure out what would happen next, " _Langdon what did you get yourself into?_ " 

The men scattered the room for any place to leave the newly-hatched being, two of them running with a cylindrical tank big enough to hold a human man, pushing it on top of a metal platform with wheels, the other two quickly rushing to fill it with water that coming out of a pipe, Caul didn't hesitate on covering the creature with the tablecloth and carrying it to the half filled tank, dropping the baby into the water and backing away as he threw the piece of fabric aside, soon joined by the men who had just finished filling it with water and sealing the top.

"Gentlemen, I think we may have summoned an entity," said the oldest of them, "A personification of Oannes perhaps."

"Are you sure? How do we know it isn't just some freak of nature we just so happen found?" Reiterated the balding man.

"Well it certainly it's something we haven't seen before, judging by its nature it could be of use for our research!" Said another one of them.

"What do you think, Caul?" Asked one of the men. Langdon did nothing but to stare as the water washed out the fluids, revealing a blue creature with stripes, floating in front of them, it looked like a baby, _it was a baby._

"Caul?" The man's voice made him snap from whatever trance he had gotten into for the past seconds, he turned his head to be greeted with his colleagues expecting his response, he looked once more at the creature and noticed how frail and small it appeared to be, _"It has to be harmless..."_

"I suppose the most sensible thing would be to study it…" he said,"But I have the feeling we may have to wait for a while, I doubt we can get anything useful from a newborn…"

Despite the chatter and questions surrounding him, Langdon couldn't help but to stare back at the being, _study it?_ Why did he use those words? How was he supposed to answer? _What_ was he supposed to answer? That thing was a newborn and at the end of the day he had standards and limits he wasn't willing to cross, right?

"Wait? What do you mean by that?" Once again a question snapped him out of his thoughts. Caul went back to looking at the men, "Surely we can dissect it now."

"Well, I figure we may want to wait and see how it develops, if it really is related to Oannes we for sure don't want to end it's life."

"Very well," answered the oldest of them, Langdon was surprised that even worked in the first place, what was happening? In other circumstances he wouldn't even bat an eye yet for some reason alien to him, this particular situation wasn't the case. 

The newborn barely moved, it floated in the water resembling an embryo of some sort, it had no legs, how didn't he notice that before? Eyes closed, barely capable of moving, was it even ready to hatch? "How long do you suggest we wait?"

"A couple of months, weeks if we are lucky…" he answered, "Maybe it will develop legs, seems humanoid enough to do that, but that's mere speculation."

"We should monitor it for the night, to see if anything else happens." Suggested one of his colleagues, to what everyone else seemed to agree, included him. The following hours everyone took turns to watch the hatchling, one would sit on front of the thank as the rest did all the research they could, the man in watching duty will take notes and by the end of the night it was expected that they all have gathered enough to have a clue of the being's true nature.

Caul did most of the turns, volunteering to cover everyone who felt too tired and even doing more time than established. He kept scribbling in notebooks and scraps of paper, writing down every single detail.

_According to the rest it acts unresponsive, however I have noticed an increase of movement everytime I come to check on the newborn, perhaps it is because I was holding it before it hatched, however that wouldn't make sense unless it managed to pick up my smell as the creature doesn't seem to have opened its eyes yet._

Why him? Was he going crazy? Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe the large amounts of coffee, maybe the ritual affected his mind? 

_It seems to behave similar to a human newborn, in which case we can expect it to grow older in a similar way to us, if that is the case, how sentient it is? How similar is the creature to us? Should it be refered as a child with a proper name? Hopefully time will tell._

The morning came and a disheveled looking Langdon Caul stood in front of the same tank, still taking notes of every single detail about the creature, even trying to speculate about it's possible nature.

"It seems to be just like a baby…" he muttered, "Not fully developed, of course, though we can't be sure if it's meant to be this way or it was born prematurely."

He yawns and takes another sip of coffee, "It seems possible that it will develop like an amphibian." 

"By the look of things you may be right." Said the same man with gray hair, "And thanks to your notes it's quite obvious it responds to you. Say, if it turns out it acts like a baby and it will develop like any child would, we may be able to get some information when it learns to communicate."

"Seems like a reasonable assumption." By the time he answered the cup was almost empty, not once did he make eye contact with anyone.

"But if that is the case, one of us would have to take care of it," Caul took a last sip of the cup as he waited for whatever the man next to him was going to say, "I think it's clear it should be you."

He almost choked on his coffee and he could've sworn he spat a little, quickly putting the cup away before breaking it, turning to meet the man's gaze as he protested, "Excuse me?" 

"Not as a father, think of it as an experiment, like studying a rare specimen." The man spoked.

"Hopefully there's no need for that." He sighs, but as days go by, it seems he won't be lucky enough to escape said fate.

In just a couple of days the hatchling had finally opened his eyes, two dark orbs with blue irises, it was more active and the tadpole like tail slowly started to develop into a set of legs. 

"It's been a month, due to the… _particular_ … circumstances of our predicament, it seems like it's time we make an exception and let somebody else know about our doings. Caul, you may want to explain to your wife about this, since you'll be taking the creature home. There shall be no problem as she is in no place to have a word in our duties." 

" _She won't have a word… Ridiculous, of course Edith will… She won't be pleased with this."_ He thought, what had he gotten himself and his wife into? Edith shouldn't have gotten involved, but she deserved to know, sooner or later, and it seemed as if it was about time she did, "Very well… Gentlemen, may I be excused? He asked while showing his usual box of cigars.

With their nods of approval he headed out of the building and lit up a cigar, taking a draw as he looked at the sea, the quietness of the night allowing him to listen to the waves crashing against each other, "How will I explain this to her?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPEFULLY I said...


	2. Telling the truth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is finally time to tell Edith and she isn't pleased with it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edith deserved better so Imma give her a proper personality this time...

"Langdon, what have you done?" Edith frantically asked as she shaked her husband by the arms, " _What have you done?"_ She backed off to sit on their bed while trying to calm herself down as she hid her face in her hands.

Langdon had tried to explain everything gradually, small non suspicious anecdotes of his years traveling with Captain Elihu Cavendish, things and experiments he once did, books he once read, he tried his best to make it seem like he was simply trying to tell his beloved wife a story, which she claimed to find funny yet interesting, then he became more direct, showing her said books, photos, drawings, papers, everything of strange nature, so far she had responded with curiosity and open mindness, as days went by the more he told her and more than once there was a slight level of alcohol to help the truth flow from his mouth. That night however, things didn't go according to plan.

"We have a few weeks to wait, I—I just didn't know how to tell you, is just that I can't say no—"

"— _You_ can't say no, but what about me? Am I now permanently stuck with whatever those people tell you to do?" She interrupted as she raised her voice and directed her eyes at him, "Why didn't you tell me all of this before?"

"Edith…" he sighs and walks over to their bed, sitting next to her, grabbing her hands and leaning towards her, "Nothing I say is enough to apologize for all I have done, but trust me, it's in our best interest to take care of that thing."

She puts her head on his shoulders and closes her eyes, it pains him to see her so distressed, like a punch to the gut, she goes quiet as he lifts her face and wipes away the hair from her eyes, "Take care of a child for what? Just so you and those men can dissect him once he is of no use for you?"

"I promise I won't let that happen," he answered, "I just have the feeling that it is for the better," Caul did his best to not lose eye contact with his wife's stare of disapproval, it certainly wasn't the first time she had gotten mad at him, still, seeing her being so disappointed on him felt like a stab to the heart, "I'm not really sure what happened that day, but something tells me that we shouldn't decline, I can't explain it but—"

"—Look at you, Langdon Caul, a man of science and solid proof, taking such a decision based on a feeling." She sighs, "How weird seeing you do that."

"You could've told me all of this before, secret society, the end of the world, unknown creatures, everything, you could've told me _all_ of this before and I would've believed you!" Her hands kept moving as if to establish a point, her voice becoming less enraged and turning into a somber tone, "I'm not ignorant, you know very well I'm no stranger to the weirdness and I thought that was clear from the day we met, but now you come to our room before going to sleep just to tell me all of this?"

"I know I can't make this better, I'm deeply sorry for anything that I've said, everything that I've done, what I just got us into, I—" Caul spoke fast and frantic, stuttering on every word, "Damm it, Edith, I—" He stopped, taking a deep breath, "Damm," he swore, "To be perfectly honest I'm not sure if I want to do this nor if it's the right thing, but is too late to change it."

"Goodness, what have you done…" Edith grabs his face and leans closer, in other circumstances he would melt on her embrace, this time he sat still expecting either an answer or a slap, "I'm mad at you, I shouldn't need to say it," her dark brown eyes stared straight at his, "I'm extremely disappointed _but_ … I guess I'm willing to go through with this."

She stood up and went to her divinity to braid her hair before sleeping, "You are my husband and I'll support you in every choice you make." Langdon stood up and went to help her, "But you have to promise you won't hide anything from me, I can't be this forgiving with you…" 

"I promise I won't." He leans in and kisses her cheek, "I'm a man of my word." Edith looks back at him and puts her hand on his face, running her thumb across his cheek, she smiles, the same tired smile he'd seem many times before.

"Please don't stay up late. Heaven knows you need some rest."

With that Edith headed towards their bed and went to sleep on her usual spot, turning off the candles and fully covering herself with the blankets. Caul stayed up for around another hour, sitting next to her.

"I promise It won't be this way anymore… I need to stop doing this…" he whispered as he made sure the blankets didn't fall off her, "This is the last time I ever hide something from you."

He planted a kiss on her forehead and laid down next to her, watching her smile as she spoke in her sleep, " _My love…_ " she said in that groggy tone of hers and in no time the two of them were asleep on each other's arms.

A week had finally gone by after that night.

A new day had begun and the rays of sun through the window took care of waking them up, a ship waited for the two of them, it was the date the society had planned for them to take the baby.

"Darling…" Edith yawned as she stretched.

"Is time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly this is better than their marriage in canon.


	3. Bringing the baby home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is finally time, how would Edith react? What will they do? Whay would the society do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen Edith won't hesitate...

She hated crowds, the docks were full of them, however Edith had managed to deal with them many times before, even if it was for the sake of waiting for someone to come home or to say goodbye, this time she wasn’t going to be the one staying behind, in fact, a small ship awaited for her and her husband, well, probably she was an unexpected guess but she would be there regardless of that.

The ocean was calm, “ _Thank goodness,_ ” she thought, how long had it been since she went out of town? Let alone to another state, aside from a few confused looks from sailors the travel itself was calm, quiet, she spent most of it gazing down at the water.

_Not today, nor tomorrow…_

Once in a while she would talk with Langdon, mostly questions, maybe she’ll try to make a few jokes to lighten the mood but as the sun settled down the uneasiness she felt while leaving the port only grew higher and higher.

The ship finally arrived, they still had to walk to get to the established location, the streets seemed deserted at night, they were ignored by the few passersby and local drunks on the area, strangely, it reminded her of the time she moved out of her family home, alone and trying to make a living out of any odd job she could catch. 

“Is this the place?” she asked after stopping in front of a hospital building.

“Yes,” he answered blandly while opening the door. They stepped inside and were greeted by four men, she recognize them, those _work colleagues_ Langdon kept referring to, she could’ve sworn she’d seen them before, at their wedding or in the docks, on the streets near their home, “Gentlemen, I’m sure you remember my wife, Edith—”

“No need for introductions, I’m assuming there is something I must see in here…” Edith stared at the men as she furrowed her brow and started walking in front of them. She stopped and turned back to face them while putting her best defiant tone, “Is anyone going to show me the way?” she watched as the men started walking and her husband went ahead to show her the way through a series of doors and corridors leading down the basement. She could hear the men whispering behind them.

_“Why is she here?”_

_“What was he thinking? That woman isn’t supposed to be here!”_

She glares at them as they walk and goes back to seeing the way, huffing as she closes her eyes and tries to calm down. Her hands had gotten cold and her steps became less confident. Everyone stops, Caul unlocks the door and she swears her heart is trying to get out of her chest. “ _Not now, not when you’ve gotten this far, do not be afraid…_ ” she tells herself, “ _Is just a baby, don’t be nervous._ ”

The room was barely lit with a strange teal-colored glow, filled to the brim with strange artifacts, pipes and tubes.

Right in front of her there is was.

A cylindrical shaped tank with a newborn swimming in it, no, no swimming, floating, yes, that was the word, barely moving, god, Langdon was right, just a harmless tiny baby, why were they so worried about him? All Edith could see was a small and possibly scared infant. The creature opened his eyes and it felt as if he had come to life. The tiny infant was moving and pressing his hands against the glass, curiously looking at the arrangement of faces in front of him.

“Hello little one…” Edith puts her hand on the glass and takes a good look at the being in front of her, blue and covered in faint stripes, big dark eyes with blue irises and a set of somehow oversized gills attached to his neck, she smiles, “You are just a baby, what harm could you do?”

Her heart starts to calm down and all of the sounds around her become muffled by her thoughts, she can feel herself laughing, the infant seems curious, awake, “You’ll be out of there soon my little hatchling…” she whispers.

She’s awoken by a hand on her shoulder, “My love…” she says softly just to fill in the silence, she looks back at the thank as the little baby beams at the sigh of the two of them, she smirks, “He thinks you’re his father, I can tell…” Edith leans her head into his arm as she holds her husband’s hand, “That would make me the mother…” The thought makes her happy, strangely enough, she thought about children before, she grew up with many siblings and the thought of having a big family never bothered her, however it seemed as if life had other plans for her up until that day.

“So it seems…” he responds, squeezing her hands and rubbing his thumb against her knuckles. 

The men proceeded to open the tank and introduce a net inside, pulling out the baby as if it were an actual fish “Be careful! He’s a living being you have there, sir!” Edith protested.

“I can assure you m’am, that it—”

“ _Him._ ”

The oldest of the men approached them, “We did a few test before you came—”

“—Test?” Caul clearly did not expect that bit of information, “I specifically told you there shouldn’t be any test done to him—It!” he stumbled with his words, Edith looked at them, glaring at the man with a death stare and as soon as she opened her mouth to scold the man for his actions he tried to explain himself.

“Nothing to worry about, we just tried seeing if your amphibian hypothesis was correct, turns out it has developed a set of lungs though we advise to keep it on water, the longest it went outside of it with no problem was 24 hours, maybe the time will increase with age.”

“You left him out of water and almost killed the hatchling in the process—”

“—You people did _what_?” Edith interrupted, voice raising and eyes wide open, the man backed away at the sigh of her reaching to grab her husband’s cane but before she could even do anything another one of them catches their eye by giving to them the small being, completely covered in cloth, the man carrying him wearing thick leather gloves as if trying to protect himself.

“Don’t carry him that way!” Edith reached for the baby and cradled in on her arms, the tiny infant cooed as she held him close to her face, “Shh, you are safe now…” she murmured, she sighs while bouncing the baby, “Shall we go now, darling?”

“Just a moment, we can’t just leave…”

“Papers? Exchange notes with these people?” she asked.

“More or less…” The following was around an hour of the men explaining what they referred to as _scientific findings_ of the creature next to a set of rules of never telling anyone of their doings, things Edith already expected and that she’d come to terms with the moment she stepped into the building. 

“Naturally we’ll have to check on the creature from time to time, though I think we can arrange the frequency of our meetings back home…” with that and endless rambling they were free to go.

Both did their best to cover the small infant from any curious eyes and rushed to catch the nearest ship, finding private places to rest and pour water onto the baby’s gills, he no longer seemed scared and if anything he appeared more alive than before, tugging Langdon’s tie or playing with the loose strands of Edith’s hair like any small child would, making all of those soft incomprehensible noises Edith remembers hearing from her younger siblings, “There, there, sweetie, we are almost home…” she whispered, closing her eyes as she leaned closer to her husband, resting her head on his chest as they both sat away from the other passengers.

“Don’t smoke near the baby…” she said, an arm wrapped around her shoulder made her lean closer, she yawns and keeps the small child near them.

“I wasn’t going to…” he answered, resting his head on hers, “You can sleep, I’ll make sure to wake you up when we arrive, I can take care of the kid…”

“Never thought of you with children… even after I told you I wanted them…” she laughs, the irony putting a small chuckle on her lips.

“Never thought of myself as a father but I suppose children were always welcome as long as you wanted them…” 

“I’ve never… I…” he stops talking for a while, sighs and tries again, “Truth be told I don’t consider myself able to be any sort of parental figure, I’ve been on my own for so long that the thought of having anyone important in my life was just… so strange to me…” Edith opens her eyes to look at him as he tries to explain himself, “But then I met you, and things ended up the way they did, we got married and I failed you so many times and now _him_ …” Langdon points at the baby on Edith’s arms, the little one looks back at him, “What have I gotten ourselves into?”

They both go quiet, the baby falls asleep on Edith’s arms, she rocks the small child just like a mother would, she isn’t ready to sleep yet, “Do you want to hold him?” she asks.

Langdon doesn’t answer nor does he nod but he already had stretched his arms to take the small sleeping infant, Edith leans in and restests all of of her body on his side, Caul awkwardly tries to cradle the hatchling, he stares at him, Edith wonders if that is fear or pride on his eyes, “Like that, imagine he is one of those fragile objects you decorate our house with…” she chuckles at the sigh of her husband doing his best to not wake him up.

“May I know exactly what our kid is? I think that’s important…” her voice is groggy and she speaks in a soft tone.

“We don’t know yet but we refer to him as _Icthyo Sapien_ …”

“Does he have a name?” she asks.

"Does he need one— o— of course he does, sorry…” he corrects himself, “We haven’t named him yet…”

“Hmmm… what about…” Edith thinks of a couple of names before deciding for one, “Abraham, do you like it? I think it suits him.”

“Abraham it is then…”

“Abraham Caul… That sounds nice…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caul you are a bitch but you're least trying...


	4. Extended family.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe is just an stupid idea, maybe it wont work, but maybe it would, the couple waits that a letter is enough and that it gets to him in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, I know, but hey, there's barely anything about Cavendish so most of this will be him being the crazy uncle cause I'm not sure how much from canon I can use on this AU...

_ Captain Elihu, since I heard you are back in town I hope this letter finds you soon enough. _

_ I'm writing for more than our usual chatter to ask about each other's life, in fact, You are the only person Edith and I can trust with this. You may remember I told you about the plans we had at the society and I'm sure I gave you a detailed version of all of our findings, as you may have guessed things didn't go as planned.  _

_ You see, turns out (whether it was by mistake or not) we or more specifically I, have summoned an entity, a creature, we aren't sure of what he is, all we know is that it, well, he, actually, is nothing but a baby of amphibian nature and in a turn of events that still feel surreal, Edith and I have been tasked with taking cafe of the baby. Before you ask, she didn't react kindly to the idea but it seems she has grown fond of the little one, who she named Abraham. _

_ Please be secretive of this, since you were my mentor decades ago and have been a friend ever since, you are the only one we trust, as the society seems to have plans that compromise his health in order to study the little one, we figured that you may be able to give us some insight on his nature sooner so Edith and I can find a way to avoid any studies from being done, I'll hide a photo taken of his first week on our house, I'm sure it will be helpful. _

_ As you have already invited yourself to our house before, this time you have our permission to pay us a visit, please be discrete. _

_ Langdon Caul. _

_ Ps. Yes, to my dismay you are allowed to call yourself his uncle, thank Edith for that, she insists you do so. _

Cavendish couldn't help but to laugh like a maniac as he read the letter, he rushed to open it ever since he saw the envelope with that familiar handwriting that brought back memories, he sat at the edge of his chair while pressing the paper close to his face.

His eyes went wide open while he detached the photo glued to the envelope, he cackled, standing up, hands shaking as he held it next to the candlelight.

The photo revealed a creature covered in stripes, sleeping like an infant on a cradle, the difference being that the cradle was a bathtub, he had a set of gills and closed eyes, he was at the very bottom of the tub,completely unbothered by the water.

"Mother of—" he stared at the photo for a good while, proceeding to abruptly shove it and the letter on his pocket, grabbing his coat and hat and heading out the door.

On his way he made sure to grab a bag and filled it with all the books and instruments he deemed as potentially useful, leaving a mess of papers and artifacts on his way, he didn't even bother to pick anything up.

Elihu slammed the front door and quickly locked it before making his way to that familiar house, moving as fast as possible, despite how late it was, after all, no one would tell the captain he couldn't go on board his own ship and it was a long way from England to America, so if he was going to be months on a ship he may as well do it quick.

"Lucky man, why couldn't  _ I _ be here sooner," he thought, "Time for him to meet uncle Elihu!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, this is a happy AU from tumblr...


	5. Family visits.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes is hard to know the truth, especially if the answer is unclear, while Edith still have faith that things will turn out fine, Caul is trying to keep hope despite having the feeling they wont.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Elihu is a thing here and I'm not apologizing.

The house wasn’t ready for children, it had a few spare rooms that could be used as a nursery but it would take time to re-purpose them, especially for a child who wasn’t even human to begin with. Caul had suggested building a thank similar to the one he was in before they brought him home, however Edith was against the idea and after a quite convincing argument, which involved a healthy amount of death stares from her side, they settled down into getting a small tub meant for children and use it as a cradle for the little one.

Edith was still sleeping, locks of wavy hair covering her face and a hand dangling off the bed, Caul made sure not to wake her up, it was early, perhaps a little bit too early, he hadn’t really been able to sleep, mostly due to the child sleeping on an improvised water cradle near their bed, the first thing he did was to check on said child, who slept calmly at the bottom of the tub as if it hadn’t been waking up and making noises at hours nobody should be awake.

“So you finally decide to keep it quiet…” he says while yawning, turning around to make sure the blankets didn’t fall off his sleeping wife.

He appreciated the quietness, which had become rare ever since little Abraham had came to their lives, while Langdon couldn’t pride himself on being the best cook or know anything about the matter, he at least knew how to make a decent cup of coffee to keep himself awake, he figured he may as well do one for Edith.

The water was boiling and he heard that familiar whistle that indicated it was ready, he had enough time to put it away from the fire before being startled by a loud knocking on the door.

The tone was fast and frantic as if whoever was behind that door was in a rush to get inside, “Open the door please! Uncle Elihu wants to meet his little nephew!”

“Oh for fu— Why did I expect him to act any differently…” he protested as he walked towards the noise, still rubbing his eyes and with an ever growing headache, he swore the noise was loud enough to be heard upstairs, the sound of a crying baby confirming it, he sighs and groans, slowly opening the creaking door while he covered his eyes from the sun with his free hand.

“Thank—”

“—Couldn’t you pick a better hour?”

Cavendish had already made his way inside the house and he turned to look at Caul as he spoke, “Rough night?” he asked.

“I’m sure I’m not the only one hearing all of the crying noises…” he said while closing the door, “Didn’t I ask you to be discrete?” 

“Sorry…” Cavendish gave an apologetic look and went back to his usual behaviour as soon as the door was shut, “Where’s the little one? I came prepared, trust me—”

“What does that mean?” a voice asked, before Caul could even start scolding his friend about his entrance Edith had already made her way to the staircase carrying a still crying baby, she tried to hush him as she walked.

"Elihu, you came earlier than expected… what a surprise…" she sighs, Elihu tries to go near the baby but before he can even have a good look at him Edith passes little Abe to her husband.

"Let us calm him down first…" Caul still isn't sure what to do, so far bouncing the baby has proven to help, a few pats on the back seemed to help, "Look at what you done, here, take a look at him…" once he stops crying and finally calms down, Caul holds him in front of Cavendish, he swore Elihu's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Oh my… just look at him…" Elihu's mouth went from wide open to a playful grin with a level of childish nature that Caul knew very well, if he really knew Elihu that well, then that grin couldn't be good.

"Hi little one, I'm uncle Elihu," he said while moving his hands in front of the child's face, moving it to catch his attention, "Oh, you're an special one, I can tell, I bet your parents have no idea…"

"Of course he is special, he is our child," Edith commented, covering herself with a robe on top of her nightgown.

"Yes, but I meant in another way."

"I don't like where this is going…" After years of traveling with him, Langdon could already tell things weren't going in the direction he and Edith expected, " _ He came prepared… Why did I think he would do anything sensible for once…"  _ he sighs and moves the baby away from him, "I said no studies on the kid."

"I won't do any harm, is just that— here, I have this book—"

"Would you care to join us for breakfast first?" Edith stepped in between them, sounding mildly annoyed, "Though you may have to wait until I get ready, I don't trust my husband in the kitchen…"she smirks and gives Langdon a kiss on the cheek before making her way upstairs.

"What?"

"You still can't cook after all these years…"

"I made coffee, you liked my way of making it, if I recall properly…" 

"I could use a cup."

They both go to the kitchen, Caul places little Abe on a seat near the window that is surrounded by cushions, the baby looks curiously at them and Caul can't help but to notice how Cavendish hasn't stopped staring at the child.

"You are going to scare him, he doesn't like being stared at…" he served himself a cup of coffee and another to his friend, "He may not be able to remember anything but I doubt being trapped in a tank and observed by everyone would be pleasant for him…"

"Yes, yes, I understand!" He takes a sip of coffee and accommodates himself in the chair. "Well, I must say I never thought I would see you with a child, quite frankly I used to think you'd die alone on a ship." He cackles, which in any other circumstances and from someone else, Caul would take that as an offense, yet from him such a joke would actually make him smile, "Yet I got married and look at him." He points at Abraham, "You were wrong."

The baby giggles, "He finds it funny too, how charming!"

"Don't push it…" Cavendish hadn't changed, the baby started tugging at Langdon's shirt, grabbing his attention once again, "Yes, yes,I'll give you food, just a moment…"

"Sorry for the smell, but it's one of the things he eats…" Caul scatters the cabinets for a small glass container labeled as rotten eggs, "We were going to throw them away but somehow he got a hold of them and we found out what he eats…"

"Reminds me of experiments with sulfur, good times…" He rolled his eyes at the english man's remark and put some of the eggs in a small bowl, which the little child proceeded to eat.

"Sorry, I didn't have much time…" Edith puts a tray of pastries and eggs on the table, "You already fed him and served coffee, thank you!" She leans in to kiss her husband and sits down grabbing a plate of food for herself, "What is it that you were so eager to tell us?" She asked while trying to keep her hair away from her face.

"Let me help you." Langdon went to help Edith with arranging her hair into a bun, despite still feeling slightly groggy and quite frankly mad thanks to the previous minutes, he was still curious of what Cavendish had to say, after all, him and Edith had invited him for that purpose. 

"Well, where do I start?” he changes from his previously cheerful demeanor, finishes his coffee and clears his throat, “Edith, has this man explained to you all the things that the Oannes society does?”

“To my dismay, yes…” in other circumstances her response may have been comedic, this time it felt more like a somber remark of everything that had happened. 

“Well, then I suppose you know what is going to happen, about the Ogdru-Hem and the frogs and everything…”

“Elihu, what does that have to do with any of this?” Caul goes from looking at his wife and friend sitting on the table to looking at the child and back at them, “What does he have to do with those things? He couldn’t help but to feel a certain level of uneasiness creeping in, he didn’t remember that much from the ritual other than slight visions of creatures as they all chanted, which were overshadowed by the following events of Abe’s birth, “The ritual was for—” what was it for? Did he remember? Was that even clear? “—Everything we did was to gain knowledge, to contact whatever entity or— or thing—”

“You didn’t know what you were doing…” Edith remarks, sighing and pressing her palms against her face, “God… you people didn’t know…”

“All we had was speculation, I knew the rock— egg,” he corrects himself, “It stood out to me, as if it was talking or… I’m not sure how to explain it.”

“See, that’s my point, Langdon,  _ it  _ wanted to be found, maybe it got attached to you because you were the first person who interacted with the egg and well… Now you have little Abe, maybe the ritual did nothing and it was time for him to hatch or maybe you triggered it—”

“Isn’t that more speculation? I thought you had an idea of what is happening!”

“And I do!” he interrupted, “Is not a definitive answer, but is all I can give to you, after all, you asked for my help.”

They all calm down, Cavendish stands up and goes to grab the baby, who’s still sitting and staring at the adult, “What are you—”

“Don’t worry, miss Edith, I’m not hurting your child.” Abraham’s response is surprisingly calm, barely making any noise, “Listen, you can take a look at all the books I bought if my word isn’t enough, but this kid right here…” he carefully holds him in front of his parents and continues talking.

“This kid is the new race that’s meant to roam this world after mankind is gone.”

There was silence, nobody did nothing but stare wide eyed at each other.

“This has to be a joke…”

“We ask you for help and this is what you tell us…” Caul shakes his head in disappointment, grabs the baby and goes upstairs to leave him back on his cradle.

“You asked for an answer, I delivered!” he could still hear Cavendish downstairs, in fact, he expected the approaching footsteps to be his, however, to his surprise, those were Edith’s, which he found by far more pleasant.

“That certainly didn’t go well…” she sighs, “I know he is our friend but… just look at him.” Edith points at the baby now sitting on the water cradle, “Perhaps he is mistaken, maybe he confused out little Abraham with another creature…” 

The baby cooes, “I know, I know, little one, your uncle has no idea what he’s saying…” 

“Edith, you won’t like this but… I think he may have a point…” he prefers to keep his eyes closed to avoid Edith’s stare, “I’m sure I heard of this, I’ve read about something like this before, however, I never imagined said race would come in the form of a baby, I always thought it would be some sort of monstrous creature—”

“He  _ isn’ _ t a monstrous creature…”

“I know…” he looks at the small curious child who’s sitting completely calm on water, “I know for a fact he won’t do any harm but… if Elihu is right, _ that _ is going to happen, even if Abraham doesn’t want to, if it turns out to be true…”

“ _ What have I done? What have I done? _ ” he couldn’t stop thinking about how he never considered that possibility, after decades in the society he never stopped to think about that, was he at peace with the idea? It didn’t feel like it, if anything Langdon was starting to doubt everything that drove him to become part of it countless years ago. 

“He won’t…” Edith’s words made him react, “I know our son, he won’t, I trust him not to.”

“He’s just a baby…”   


“Exactly, a baby who will grow up like any other child with no apocalipse nonsense.” she walks over to her husband to place a hand on his cheek “Now, Elihu is still downstairs, please fix your clothing and come down to talk.” she kissed him and proceeded to take the baby and head out the room, “Sorry for moving you around so much, little one…”

While Langdon still wished that said kiss had lasted a little longer, he realizes she is right and that he can’t just leave the room like that, besides, he hadn’t noticed the wrinkles on his shirt nor the hastily put on waistcoat, which he proceeds to fix and put on his usual tie while he is at it, heading downstairs after being done with his clothing to find the three of them on the living area. Cavendish holding a comically confused baby while he is making all sorts of commentaries and remarks about the little one, Edith laughing at the sight of Abe pulling Cavendish’s hair and tie and how he jolts each time.

He can’t help but to smile, maybe, hopefully, Edith is right once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baby Abe is cute, fight me.


	6. Doctor's appointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As previously arranged, the society will "check up" on the baby, which not only makes the parents quite uneasy, but also creates some conflict since a very tired and worried Edith wont hesitate to speak up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I'm trying to fix their marriage in this AU and somehow I ended up witht he badass wife/nerd husband dynamic and honestly I'm not complaining, I'm happy with that.

Needles, blood, cries, that damned blinding light, those stupid men talking like they were studying an object,  _ make it stop, make it stop _ .

Edith opened her eyes after a couple or breaths, she hadn't shaked off the feeling of that nightmare, had she even slept after that? She hoped nobody noticed, especially those men she had grown to despise. "Are you done yet?" She asked, still holding an unsuspecting baby in her arms, poor little Abraham had to idea of what was going on, she hoped.

"Darling, just a minute, we still have to document our findings…" there was that excuse, how much she hated it, though it was better than nothing, it was a way to distract the society. "Gentlemen, it seems that with the passing of time the hatchling's lungs will be able to handle more time out of water, which furthermore proves the amphibian theory, diet wise we still not sure, fish and eggs seem to do fine, specially ever since the baby started to grow teeth, which was quicker than we expected."

"Abraham seems to be developing fast but… a baby hid age should already have grown a little…" she says while looking at the small infant…

"Abraham?" Asks one of the men.

"That's how I named him, any problem with that?" Edith glared at the man with her most serious tone, to her surprise and joy it seemed as if they were learning not to contradict her, at least not when she was near them.

Everyone goes back to their job, Edith sighs, "We'll be out of here soon, don't worry." The baby just looks at her and tugs the loose strands of her hair, "I won't let them touch you."

She hears whispers, not sure what they're saying, she tries to listen. 

"Tell your wife to keep quiet. _ " _

_ "Just do it already, she shouldn't be questioning us." _

What wouldn't she give for the opportunity to slap every single one of them. "Edith, you won' like this."

"What now? More reasons to delay us?"

_ "Caul, what are you—" _

"I'm afraid so. Gentlemen, since it was  _ your  _ idea, why don't you explain her." Edith smirked at the looks of enragement of the men and the smug smile on her husband's face.

The men push the youngest of them, who seems annoyed at their decision, Edith wasn't happy either when she noticed the syringe on the man's hands, "Miss, we need a sample of it's blood—"

"You are  _ not _ draining  _ his _ blood." Edith kept the baby away from the man, putting herself in between them, "We agreed on not harming Abraham, I thought you needed him in perfect health." Regardless of the situation she wouldn't let anyone touch a single inch of her child, but what else could she say to those men? Tell them the truth and downright denying them any contact with the kid? She wished, but it was easier said than done.

"Is for the sake of harming the creature, is for research purpose, we won't drain any blood."

"Research purpose, research purpose, don't you know anything else? Is observing him not enough?" She protested. She was tired, how many tests will there be done? How long until everything is over? Her patience was running out with each visit and she wasn't compelled to hide it.

"Ma'am, just calm down—"

"—I was very clear in my decision."

Among the screaming Edith hadn't realized Caul was no longer standing with the other men, he had gotten right next to her and she only found out by feeling his hand on her shoulder, "I'll make sure nothing goes wrong, I promise…" he whispered into her ear, while it didn't calm her down, it was somehow reassuring to know the only person in the room she could trust was going to so something about it.

"Since the kid has been assigned under our care and for the sake of my wife's nerves, should I be in charge of the blood sampling?"

Edith wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad idea, nor if she should congratulate or scold him, but it was better than having any other men near her child.

She saw them passing Caul the syringe, and in just minutes they were behind a curtain, little Abe sitting on her lap, "I know, I know, just one more thing and we'll be done…" she cooed. 

"This will hurt just a little…" Langdon sighed while holding Abe's arm and pressed the needle into the baby's skin, which made the tiny infant cry and jolt back in pain, in just a few seconds that felt like an eternity it was done, "Hush down, it's over, I told you it was just a second." 

Caul stares at the content of the syringe, eyes wide open and a puzzled expression on his face, "It's blue… how strange…" 

"That should be all, right?" She sighs and hugs the little baby, "I'm getting tired of this. Red, blue, doesn't matter, it's just blood."

"Hopefully this won't cause any problem." He kisses her cheek and goes to talk with the men, Edith starts covering her child with all the blankets and robes they used to avoid any stares from people on the streets. She moved away the curtain and walked over where Langdon was standing, touching his shoulder to grab his attention.

"Are we ready to go now?" 

"Yes, actually, we should." He went back to looking at the men, adjusted his coat, put on his hat and spoke, "Gentlemen, we must go now, til' our next meeting." 

Just at the moment they started walking away the man with grey hair went to stop them, more specifically, to stop Langdon, "Excuse me, Caul, but we need to talk about something." Edith groaned at the sigh, hoping she hadn't been heard, she rolled her eyes and stood there waiting as the same man made her husband walk away.  _ "Please let it be quick…" _ she thought, just being in the room was already starting to give her a headache, overhearing the conversation didn't help at all.

"You can't bring her to our meetings all the time!"

"You told  _ us  _ to take care of the kid,  _ you _ told me to reveal all of this to Edith."

"Just so she could take care of the kid while studying it!"

"If I recall properly,  _ I  _ was the one meant to take care of the hatchling."

"You have to tell that woman to stop interfering with our research, she's just meant to keep that thing alive—"

"Oh, I'm keeping  _ him _ alive, mister," She interrupted, angry and rightfully so, "And I'm taking care of him by being here and avoiding you idiotic mules from doing anything stupid, wether you like it or not is none of my concern."

She stormed off the room with the child on her hand, she heard her husband speaking, "That's our last saying on the manner," and soon he joined her.

It didn't matter how, it didn't matter the struggle, she won't let anyone touch her kid and she's willing to do whatever it takes to avoid those men from hurting him.

"Idiotic mules…"

"What? They are idiotic!"

Edith was still feeling the heat of the argument by the time she heard her husband's muffled laughter, which made her face go from annoyed to curious, " _ They are! _ " she started to chuckle as she spoke, "You know I'm right." 

"You're not wrong." He said. To which Edith replied with a smirk and leaned closer.

"You don't seem mad at my remark…"

"Why would I be?"

"Because you didn't marry a quiet and reserved house maiden?" She teased.

"I married you, which is the best decision I have ever made." Edith's eyes lit up, she looked at him, smiling so genuinely, a rare sight, "I married the right one and I knew that since the beginning." Edith blushed, laughing as she jokingly shoves him aside for a moment.

"Can you carry the baby for a while?" She asked, already handing the child who had fallen asleep as they walked.

"Gladly." As soon as he picked the sleeping child Edith stood on her toes and made her husband bend a little while grabbing his face, kissing his cheek for a brief moment and continuing walking.

"I love you." She said while holding Langdon's arm as they made their way through the streets.

"I love you too." He leaned in to kiss her forehead and with that they made their way towards their home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure of the historical accuracy of the blood sampling thingy but this is a victorian cult that seems kinda advanced for the 1860s so... S C I E N C E (I guess...)


	7. Morning routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What was meant to be an uneventfull day turned into the time to make a choice, one that may be too risky but Edith is willing to try anything to keep her son safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can't see I don't know where I'm ging with this, also, the way the Oaness Society works is kinda different in this AU because of reasons I will explain later.

Cavendish had been staying with them, which had proven to be useful in building a proper nursery for the child, a spare room fully decorated for the little amphibian, who had seemed able to sleep on his own. Another perk of having an extra set of hands was that they could allow themselves some more rest. 

Edith hadn't fully woken up, she was still clutching the blankets above her shoulders, curling up in a ball and using her husband's arm as a pillow, everything she said was slurred with grogginess and she couldn't be bothered to move any part of her body a single inch other than to make herself comfortable. She didn't want to wake up, when was the last time she slept a full night? Even after slowly gaining consciousness and opening her eyes, the warm feeling of the bed kept her there, "Goodmorning," she yawned and went back to closing her eyes, Langdon was already awake, it seemed as if he didn't want to move either.

"Goodmorning," he replied, though his words were barely understandable thanks to the yawning. Edith found that funny, even after years of marriage it was rare to see him that tired and in bed instead of drinking his own weight in coffee, she smiled and leaned closer, making sure to put as little effort as possible into moving, now resting her head on his chest. 

"We should invite Elihu more often…" she says, "It has been a while since we had a good night of sleep…" she made herself comfortable, wrapping her arms around her semi conscious husband, "Abe seems to like him…"

"Just wait until he grows up and see if he still wants to put up with him…" Edith laughs, Langdon hugs her back.

"He's your friend!"

"And I've been dealing with his antics ever since I was 19!"

She recalls the stories, mostly told with a mix of alcohol and a bad memory, she found them amusing, sometimes hilarious and other times infuriating due to the lack of common sense, "He's been dealing with yours ever since." She adds, getting a small chuckle out of him, "And I've been dealing with yours for seven years!" She remarks, holding his face with her hand just to make him look at her and quickly letting go after a second, she giggles as he holds her hand and kisses her knuckles.

However it seems like the peacefulness wasn't meant to last, a noise, a crash, loud, something falling on wood, followed by a cry that made them jump off the bed still on their sleeping clothes, groggy and rushing downstairs, abruptly stopping at the backdoor, Edith's heart was still pounding as she stood there, eyes wide open and clenching her fist.

"Sorry…"

"Elihu, what is wrong with you!?"

Her mouth was ajar and she had a puzzled look on her face which quickly faded into anger and amusement, there in front of her was Captain Elihu Cavendish, a man of science, the occult and a quick-witted sailor, lying on the floor with a pot over his head, a washing board strapped to his chest next to a pair of cushions, holding  _ their  _ child while getting yelled at by her husband, who had been facepalming all the time.

"I thought it would be fun to play with the little one! He seemed bored!" He explained "You see, we were pretending to be explorers and it was dangerous so of course we needed armor and—"

"Seriously? God, why doesn't this surprise me?" Cauls sighs while helping Elihu to stand up, "I need a drink…"

Edith rushes to grab the child and make sure he is alright, thankfully she doesn't see any wound and if anything, little Abe seems to be happy, " _ Thank goodness"  _ she thought, proceeding to glare at Cavendish who was letting go of his makeshift armor and looking like he had seen a ghost.

"I'm deeply sorry, I—"

Edith sighs, her heart finally starting to calm down, "No, no, an apology won't do…" she says, "Since you woke us up in that way  _ and  _ you were using my pot for your little games, you may as well clean this disaster and help me to make breakfast."

"Yes, of course, oh, and of course, I promise I won't do this again, I'm serious."

Edith raises a brown in disbelief and goes away, leaving the child in his room and going to hers to change. 

"Are you still drinking?" She asks while entering the room.

"I promise I won't get drunk." Caul replies while buttoning up his waistcoat and taking a sip off a flask after being done with his clothing, "At least not this early…" he mumbles.

"I've heard that."

"Ah…"

"You've been drinking less lately…"

"I know I shouldn’t be anywhere near alcohol, I’m sorry, I won't get drunk this time, I promise—"

Edith surprises her husband by wrapping her arms around him, burying her face on his chest and looking up, "I'm proud." She fixes his tie and goes back to her business. "Has Elihu always been…" she started to quickly put on all of her undergarments and look for a dress, "Well…"

"A reckless mess of a man with no self control? I'm afraid so." She laughs at the response and he helps her to lace up her corset, she puts on her dress and ties her braid into a bun, "I'll help you out with that…" and as always, her husband helps her with any loose strands of hair, she kisses his cheek and both go downstairs, not without quickly dressing up the child and picking him up.

"I've decided to start without you and I made eggs and bacon, I hope this makes up for my actions."

The food on the table looked well enough, though the struggle Cavendish went through was clear after seeing the stains on the kitchen counters, the flavor was good however and as always the coffee was strong enough to get rid of the tiredness for the time being. "See, even Elihu cooks better than you," Edith jokes, getting a smile and an eye roll from her husband, then she turns to meet Cavendish' gaze "That means you are forgiven, for now at least." The man's face lit up and he let out a chuckle.

"Good enough for me ma'am!" 

"What about little Abe, shall we try normal eggs this time?"

"Already took care of that!" Cavendish places a small saucer of the rotten eggs in front of the baby "See, I'm taking my duties as an uncle very seriously!" The man laughs and the baby begins to grab each egg and eat it, so far it seemed as if everyone had already gotten used to the smell, perks of parenting, Edith thinks. She smiles, when was the last time they had more than one person staying over? Had that even happened before? She wonders when was the last time she could sit and have breakfast with her family,  _ family _ … it felt right, what other word would she use? she wasn't alone, her eyes lit up at the sight of the small infant clumsily reaching for his food, her husband helping him, despite the mug covering his mouth, she could tell he was smiling, and the way Cavendish wouldn't stop joking only made her smile grow to the point her cheeks were starting to hurt. 

"Langdon..." she caughts her husband's attention, "What happened to that  _ I can't see myself as a father  _ thing you said? She got no answer from him, but seeing him covering his mouth as if to hide a chuckle was enough for her.

"Look who's finished!" Cavendish stands up to pick up the child, little Abe giggles at his uncle's arrangement of funny faces, he sits back in his chair while still carrying the child, "How long until the next…" he makes a pause while looking quite puzzled, " _ Appointment _ with the society?" He asks.

"About… A month if I'm not mistaking…" Caul looks back at Edith just to confirm his memory isn't failing, which she confirms with a nod, she hated those meeting, appointment had become an alternative for the word experiment, Elihu's way of making it feel like those people thought of Abe as a person rather than an object, still, it didn't shake off the feeling of uneasiness that it gave to Edith nor did it make her hate them less. 

"Oh my… I… I'll already be gone by that time… has anything come out of the blood sampling?"

"Nothing so far, we can only speculate, maybe the color is of no importance." He replies. 

"I swear if those people try anything…" she sighs, she hadn't realized she was still holding her mug, she puts it away before accidentally breaking it, "Well, there's a reason why I still have my father's old hunting rifle…"

"You hunt Mrs. Edith? Why haven't you told me about it?" Cavendish told the baby close to him and changed his tone to a more playful one, "Did you know your mommy can hunt?" 

"I haven't hunted in years…"

"But you are still a great shooter, I've never seen anyone with such precision!" Edith chuckles, she looks away as she feels a little bit of blush creeping up her cheeks.

"You know I'm not kidding!" She responds, "A lady should know how to fight."

"So your plan is to shoot them? Fair enough, I like your plan!" She can hear Cavendish' loud laughter and her husband's attempt at hiding a chuckle, "Caul! I thought you cared about them!" He jokes. 

"I haven't said anything…" Edith can't help but to join into the laughter, shaking her head as she tries to compose herself."But… I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a plan…" he says in a hushed tone, which is still hearable enough to provoke a few looks. "Well, now that Abraham's done eating he may as well use a bath…" he grabs the kid who had been sitting on his uncle's lap and starts walking away…

"No no, wait…" Caul stops the moment Cavendish speaks, "All of this has led me to a conclusion…"

"We need a plan…"

"Exactly, Mrs. Edith!"

"Oh good Lord…" Caul sighs and turns back to face them, little Abe doesn't seem to mind and of anything, looks as equally invested in the conversation as the adults…

"Listen, we all know what the society is capable of doing, we all been there and is clear that one day they will try to do something we don't want to—"

"We get the point, Elihu…" Edith stops him, while he is right, she can't help but to wish the conversation wasn't necessary, but at the end of the day it's a needed burden, "Do you have any suggestion?" 

"Well, while I do love your idea of shooting with no mercy I think we need a more subtle approach, something they won't see coming…"

"I think I may have an idea…" Caul added, "But it may be too much of a risk, highly doubt it would work…"

"What is the idea, dear?" Edith asks, "I believe we are not in a position to be picky about them…"

"I know that people like my own hand, you just had to please them and they will not raise an eyebrow to anything you do, we just have to trick them into thinking we are doing what they want…"

"You mean the old trick of deceit? I like that." Elihu wakes up and starts walking around the place, "But it needs more, we can't keep appearances forever, can we?"

"Well, we may have to for a while," Edith adds, keep appearances, like they hadn't done that before, she was tired, they needed a solution, a real plan, and the idea on her mind was desperate enough that it might as well work, "You said they have to trust us? Well, they trust the two of you, but me, I'm nothing but an unruly housewife to them…" she sighs.

"But if they believe my role is in the nursery I may as well act like it is, of course, under my own conditions…"

"Edith, darling, I'm not sure if I understand…"

"Well, I'm joining the society, or at least pretending to do so, then it should be no problem having me around and protecting our son, after all…" she dramatically puts her hand over her forehead and speaks in a joking tone "I would be nothing but a worried maiden doing her role as caretaker."

The room went quiet, Caul broke the silent by speaking under his breath, "No, no…" his voice grew louder, "Edith,you  _ can't _ pretend to join, it doesn't work that way…" he sighs…

"How does it work then?" Regardless of the answer she was determined to do anything despite the consequences, "Tell me how does it work."

“Once you are in you can't never really get out...” his mannerisms change to a more exasperated way of moving, “Is like… something keeps you in, I’m not sure how to explain it… he sighs, then rests his head on his hands, covering his face while trying to compose himself, Edith tries to ignore the feeling of worryness, she won’t back away she  _ can’t _ back away at least that’s what she tells herself, “I tried leaving many times,  _ Elihu _ tried leaving but none of us could, something keeps dragging us back—”

“—Well perhaps because the two of you were fully convinced when you joined that cult!”

“Is not a cult…”

Edith’s silence and death stare were enough of an answer, she watched her husband trying to calm down their scared child who had been quite startled by his father’s outburst, “Edith, with all due respect,” said Cavendish, “I believe your determination would be enough to link you to the Oaness society, you can’t fight that back, I… I have been trying for years, I…”

“Why do you think I spend so little time on land? I have to be on the sea, I  _ need _ to be on the sea, something about it calls me and I can’t fight it back!” Cavendish sits back, Edith isn’t sure what to make out of everything she just heard, but that word, determination, she could fight it back, she _ would _ fight it back, secret society or not, she had been fighting the call of the weaves for years, on those days when she felt worthless, when the temptation of putting an end to things clouded her mind, she fought it back, whatever that plan implied for her, it surely couldn’t be worse, specially now that she had another reason to keep herself afloat.

“I’m aware of the risk, but I do believe I’ll be alright, after all, the difference between the two of you and me is that my reasons don’t revolve about a zest for the unknown, I’m not working for Oaness or whatever you people do, If anything, I’m doing the opposite.”

“My love, are you sure you want this?”

Edith can feel the knot on her throat as she speaks, “Yes, yes I’m sure…” she nods, “I’ve made my mind.”

The silence breaks by the cooing of a baby, Edith looks at her son as she tries to put on a brave face and smiles, “Mommy will be alright, trust me, little one…”

“Then it is decided, I suppose…” Caul sighs, Edith notices how he looks at her, like he’d just seen a ghost, worried, scared, she would be lying if she said that didn’t put her on edge, “I’ll inform them, I will write to the society as soon as I can…” it sounds like those words pain him, she isn’t pleased either, she stands up from her chair and takes the baby.

“You go and do that now, I’ll take care of Abraham…” she says, making sure she can look her husband in the eyes, “Things will be fine…” she whispers while cradling his face with her free hand.

“I hope.” he grabs her hand and kisses it, to which she responds with a smile and leaves, not without making a stop after going through the wooden arch that separates the kitchen from the living room and turns to look at the men.

“Elihu, before I forget, please be more careful with those games next time, I don’t want my son to break a bone by accident, perhaps reading him a book…” she makes her way towards the bathroom where she puts the little one in a tub.

She’s careful with the soap though at least she doesn’t have to worry about the kid ending up underwater for too long, as any child would, little Abe still finds the amount of bubbles amusing, Edith plays with the little one, making rough shapes with the foam and covering herself from all the water splatters. She recalls what Cavendish said that time, ridiculous, how could such a sweet little child become a monster? Sometimes she wondered if it simply was her mind trying to deny the truth but something inside of her told her he wouldn’t become one, “I said you were going to grow up like a normal child…”

She caughts the baby’s attention, he looks at her with those curious dark orbs and she smiles at the small infant, “That’s because you are a normal child…” she grabs a towel and wraps him on it, carrying the kid to his room to get him some clothes, “You may be a little different, but who isn’t different? That makes you special…” she scrambles upon drawers to get him some clothing for the day, “You are my son, and I love you no matter what you are.”

“People may call you a freak, an outcast, but so is everyone in this family…” she looks at her son’s face, with those oversized gills she found adorable, she pinches the infant’s cheeks and plants a kiss on his forehead, “And we freaks stick together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not doing so well at the time I'm posting this and who knows if I may or may not dissapear for a while, honestly, I'm kinda hoping I can get back to writing soon so I can bring to you the next chapter but due to family issues that may not be the case for a while, I won't quit this series, I just delay it if things aren't better...


	8. Initiation and revelations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan success, for lack of a better word, but at what cost? Did Edith do the right thing? Langdon can't help but to fear for his wife's safety, and the things that he soon will learn won't be of much comfort either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT THIS IS OC/HEADCANON TERRITORY: So, if Cavendish has canonical descendants, then that mean he had children and if he had kids then he for sure was married, now, in this AU, ELIHU CAVENDISH IS GAY, but, he was forced into marriage and having kids and all, but my friends and I discussed of this and came to the conclusion his wife is also gay and into weird occult stuff, they care for each other and are good friends but their marriage is a cover up, he has his lovers, she had hers too, they love the kids even if they don't love each other, I'm not getting into that, but she's making an appearance here because why the hell not?

The whole ordeal seemed like a bad idea, he remembers writing the letter and thinking that a bunch of armed men would come for his head the moment the dropped the pen, and now, seeing the plan in action, it made his heart run faster and faster by the minute with a feeling of unavoidable doom just growing and growing.

"If you are nervous then just imagine how I feel…" she whispered into his ear, she looked at him and then at Elihu.

"We explained all of this…" Cavendish said.

"That doesn't make me less uneasy…"

Edith's choice had startled him since the beginning, it soon became clear she wasn't backing off..

At first they thought it was a joke of poor taste, "Are you out of your mind?" They asked once he insisted they were serious, "This is ridiculous, outrageous!" They claimed as they tore the letter he had sent them into pieces, but Edith's argument was compelling enough.

"Gentlemen, I'm no stranger to the unknown or your doings," she explained, "For the good of the society and the specimen in question it is of vital importance that I become part of your society," Now Langdon could see why she insisted so much on coming with him, the way she talked, her tone, how she carefully picked each word and gesture, "My husband has already spoken to me about your duty as a society and I believe I'm well educated into this line of work."

_ "It would be the greatest honor to be part of your search for knowledge." _

The way she lied through her teeth as the sharp look of determination in her eyes shined through made him shiver, but he could see the uneasiness of his wife on the way she fidgeted with her fingers, hiding her hands from his colleagues, it was too much of a risky move, but there was no going back.

The thing that once brought him pride had just become an horrific sight,  _ "Please let her be alright," _ he pleaded to whatever higher force there was, and as sudden as it had started, the ritual was over.

The higher ups had decided the ritual should be on their house,so they arranged a room with all that they needed, a circular rug with strange symbols that Caul recalls from the beginning of his time in the society, each representing a deity of the ocean, a statue of Oaness himself at the opposite side of the room, facing the door, the windows all closed and covered in blue curtains, candles with strange writing on the.. They all were covered in blue cloaks, Edith stood in the center of the rug, one of the higher ups lead the society into chanting, he stood in front of the Oaness statue giving the sensation of it watching them, Caul and Cavendish remained at Edith's side, holding her hands. There are always two men restraining the initiated, who better than them to do the job?

At first it was the leading man making questions o, english and everyone responding on latin,then the languages turned into a strange, inhuman tongue that everyone but Edith would speak, feeling as if something was using their bodies as vessels as they spoke. 

There was a bowl of water on the hands of the man conducting the ritual,he spoke in an echoing,unworldly voice,  _ "Edith Howard Caul,what do you seek?" _

_ "Knowledge." _

_ "And what are you willing to do for it?" _

_ "The impossible to find the truth of mankind and their destiny." _

_ "Why do you seek such answers."  _

_ "Because I have seen with my own eyes evidence of something greater than men." _

Words on that strange tongue appeared again, not a question but an order this time, Edith seemed to respond, eyes wide open and blank with a blue shine, she didn't seem as herself, quickly freeing her hands taking the bowl of water and pouring it on top of her. She seemed to snap out of the trance the moment she did that and with a loud gasp she was back to being herself.

_ "Edith Howard Caul, you are one of us now."  _ The man placed the necklace that represented the society on Edith's neck and everything was done.

"Go see if your wife is doing well and I'll take care of them." Said Cavendish, giving a pat to the shoulder to his friends and disappearing with the crowd.

"Darling, are you alright!?" He rushed to hold her hand once everyone had left the room, "Are you feeling well? Do you need something?"

She laughed, soft, slightly forced, a worried smile on her lips, "Yes, yes, my love, just a little… disoriented, I suppose, is that normal? Are all initiations like this?"

"Y—Yes, if I recall properly, the process can be quite… draining, actually, from what I remember."

"I had…"

"A vision?" He asked, trying to sound as calm as he could for the sake of not startling her, even if the reality was the opposite of that. 

"Yes, a vision, dear god, what– What were those creatures?" Edith placed her hand at her forehead as she looked around "Are they the ones you and Elihu had told me about?" 

"Yes, yes they are…" his voice was quiet, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking at her eyes, they were brown once again, tired, yet full of life, Langdon hoped they remained that way regardless of what may await them.

"Do you need to rest before the event? We still have until night falls." He told her.

"That would be great."

He poured tea into the cups, putting them into a tray and bringing them into their room, hours had passed and it was a matter of time until they had to head out to the  _ barely-even-used _ ballroom on their house, on other circumstances the meeting itself would be a rewarding and anticipated experience,this time it brought him an amount of anxiety that he hadn't felt ever since his youth.

"Do you need any help?" He asked, "I made tea, to calm our nerves…" what wouldn't he give to be drunk and oblivious on that moment. 

"I'm alright, I'll have a cup once I'm done," Edith said from behind the divider, "Can you check on our little one? Make sure he's presentable?"

"Right ahead," despite the context of the situation, no son of his would lack a healthy amount of etiquette, "Did you hear her?" He couldn't help but to smile at the baby's look of  _ I'm-paying-attention  _ or at least what looked like one. So far his clothes seemed fine other than a few wrinkles, "See, is not so hard to keep your clothes on," he joked as the infant giggled, bouncing the little one and sitting down on the couch as with the little one on his lap. He took a sip of his tea and looked at how little Abe seemed to be interested in the drink, "You may be too young for this– my ocean,do you know if babies can drink tea?"

"Don't give him that!" He heard her laugher, lifting up some weight from his shoulders.

"Calm down, the deal is done and she is fine, our kid is here…" he taught… blinking in realization, " _ Our kid… _ " he chuckled, "Never thought I would ever get to say that…"

"Well," Edith said from behind the divider, "I think I'm ready!", She stepped outside wearing a dark blue dress with the underskirt and part of the bodice being beige, withe lace and intricate embroidery of oceanic themes on the skirt, the necklace of the society acting as decoration on the center, "Does it look fitting?" She asked, playfully twirling around, the baby clapped, Caul did nothing but to stare in awe.

"Well, the dress code says nothing about women's attire so I guess the colors matching with your clothes is good enough. Believe it or not I was thinking about wearing one of the men's suits." She joked.

"You'd look amazing in that…" he mumbled under his breath. Langdon stood up and left the kid on the couch, slowly approaching her, "Oh, Edie, you look  _ wonderful, _ " he couldn't take his eyes off her, feeling a smile creeping on his face, Edith laughed at his reaction, placing her hand on his cheek and leaning in for a kiss, "You look wonderful as always, my dear."

"Well, thank you, my gentleman." Langdon didn't move as she straightened his tie and got rid of the wrinkles of his coat. Those moments were the ones that made his heart melt, knees weak, making him forget about the world around them.

"That's the dress from France I got you, isn't it?" He asked, her fingers tracing the corners of his mouth as he smiled. 

"With a few adjustments, you know I'm a good seamstress." She beamed, "Now, let's see my dear son– Look at you!" She went to pick up the small one, "Such a little gentleman." She turned around to meet his eyes, not without picking and having a sip of her cup of tea.

"How are you feeling? His tone somber and quiet, Langdon wanted to skip that conversation, to skip the meeting, to just be him and his wife and son, enjoying a nice moment between family, but things weren't that way.

"A little nervous, I won't lie." She responded, looking down at their child and putting away her cup. "This morning, the things I saw…"

"They mess with your sanity, I know… Elihu showed me that decades ago…"

"I'm not insane." She responded with her determined tone, "I was just… so scared, so worried things would go wrong, that they would find out our plan—" Edith stops herself, looking at her worried child, "But mommy is fine now, mom is strong, she'll be alright."

"She is very strong, indeed." He places a kiss on her cheek as she smiles softly for an instant.

"The creature I saw told me to make a deal with it, I didn't say yes." She paused once she had his full attention, even more than before, "However I said I'd do its bidding in exchange of whatever it offered as long as I kept my free will, I will not be a slave of whatever this society has to offer."

He kissed her forehead, "You did good," he said, still holding her head, "Better than most of us."

"Langdon…"

"Love, our kid is listening, let's not worry the little one," He hushes her and tucks her loose strands of hair behind her ear. The clock rang and it was time to go, the sound broke the small moment of silence they had created and startled the kid, "Shall we go now, my love?" He offered his arm to her and she took it as they walked to the event. 

Chatter, drinks, music, just as planned, nothing outside the usual for the society, all men wore similar suits with the same dark cloak with beige waistcoat and necklace, they watched from outside the room with the door slightly ajar, "The crowd looks bigger than I imagined… Are you sure nobody else brought guests?" Edith asked.

"I'm sure nobody dkd," he answered, "Only their apprentices, but they were taken into account… brings back memories. Good thing we had extra food and drinks just in case..." He sighs, "I need a drink…" he catches a glance at Edith's face, "But I won't get drunk, you have my word on that."

He feels the knot on his throat, were his hands really that cold? If only he could ditch it all,  _ "You can't run away from this…" _ he told himself.

"Are you ready, my love." She extended her free hand and looked at him, carrying Abe with her arm. 

"As long as you are, my ocean…" 

A voice announced their arrival, "The host, Langdon Everett Caul, and the lady of the house, Edith Howard Caul." Loud, a tired yet somehow monotonous tone from a young lad suggested by the society. All eyes were laid upon them, gasps of awe, all men around talking, whispering,  _ "What is that?" _ They asked, slowly approaching the couple.

Langdon gulped, his eyes looking at all of the faces, for the first time in years he felt like a stranger among the society that was once his home. One of the waiters approached them with a tray of two single glasses of champagne and a letter opener which he handed to Caul, along with an envelope.

He took it and opened the envelope first. 

_ Mr. Caul, we inform you there would be one of our most estimated guests among the meeting, please act accordingly. _

He sighs,  _ "Of course she would be here…" _ he cleared his throat and hits the glass with letter opener to grab everyone's attention, "Gentlemen, estimated members of the society," he looked at Edith, who handed him the child, carefully carrying his son and making sure everyone could see him, "The sea has decided to give us another secret to unravel, behold, our most recent discovery," the men who had been monitoring their progress stepped to the front of the crowd, "What my colleagues and I have decided to call an  _ Icthyo Sapiens, _ " he gestured at all of them, "We believe the specimen my wife and I have named Abraham is a key to the evolution of men."

He paused just to have a good at the crowd, "He seems to behave and develop just like humans do, and I believe you all have read or heard of our investigation,my colleagues and I will be open for discussion about any matter related to our specimen, however, this is not the only reason we are here, we also gather to welcome with open arms to a new member, my wife Edith Howard Caul." He drinks his glass of champagne in one go and Edith does the same after him.

He turns to look at her as if pleading for her to get him out of the situation, "Is a great honor to be part of this society," she says while looking at the men, she sighs, "As a member and lady of the house, I'm please to have such…  _ refined _ , scientist in this meeting, alas, let the evening begin." 

They both sigh in relief as the crowd disperses, the music plays once again, they didn't dare to get too far away from each other, just for good measure.

"Caul, your speech was decent, however, must you use such familiarities with the creature?" The old man asked.

"Sir, if we are to think the creature has so many similarities with us humans then why should we treat the child in such a different way?" He explained, avoiding letting him see his nervousness, the baby protested, Caul noticed how the man sneered at his child, "Sir, as the host I must attend to my duties with the other guest. We'll talk later."

God, he wished to have his cigars, or maybe more than just a glass of liquor, whiskey,rum, wine, anything "Let's find your mom." He said to the child, who seemed to light up with those words. Too many people, too many people, oh, to be drunk enough to forget about the looks,he promised not to be though, even if the temptation of the glasses of different liquors were all over the place.

_ You named it? _

_ How come that your wife is part of our society? _

_ Please tell us in detail about the creature's nature. _

Vague, quick answers, he spotted Edith among the crowd, the music was too loud, his chest too tight, a slight headache creeping in, despite of that, he felt a wave of relief the moment he was able to hear her voice.

"No, sir, I do believe I'm capable of handling myself, I like to think I know what I'm doing— Langdon!" She seemed to be relieved too, "Mister,if you excuse me, I must talk to my husband." She walked towards him as the man kept talking.

"My love, how is the baby? Has anybody tried anything…. Well…"

"No, nothing but questions, just the usual…" he said, "How are you doing with all of the comments?"

"Just nonsense, nothing I haven't heard before."

"Oh, I'm so sorry—"

"Dear, I've heard worse before, and we must keep a low profile, or as low as possible." She explained, her eyes darted to the baby and caressed his cheek, "Don't worry, dear, mother can handle this."

"Do you want to hold him while I take care of the question—"

"—My sailor! Mrs. Edith!" A familiar voice, clearly intoxicated yet friendly, an arm on Caul's shoulder as Edith took the child, who was laughing at the sight. Cavendish had made his way towards them, it was good to have an ally, "Finally using the old ball room, when was the last time something happened in here?"

"Fivr years ago, when Edith and I got married we hosted a party here…" he recalled, "It is the first time this place is used for the society however."

"Right, right, how is my nephew doing?" He asked, stroking the little one's head, "What a well behaved child."

"I've heard of our special guest, tell me if I'm wrong, but is she here?" Caul asked his friend.

"Of course she is!" Elihu responded.

"Who are we talking about?" Edith asked, looking at the two of them.

"You already know her." He said, looking at Cavendish and hoping he could explain it any further.

"How come?"

"Mrs. Edith, you've already met my wife!" Cavendish explained as he chuckled. Edith remained confused.

"Lydia? Elihu, this is no time for pranks—"

"—Edith, dear friend, I do believe I told you of my skills as a medium and knowledge of the occult." A woman of pitch black hair and haunting green eyes stood in front of them, dressed in red and emeralds, "Congratulations on your motherhood, darling." She extended her arms to hug Edith, trying to hug the child too. "Langdon, how long has it been since we last saw each other?" Her voice in a sarcastic tone.

"I do believe I was still young when that happened." He answered, Lydia just smirked and he rolled his eyes as a response, ready to hear any of her usual remarks.

"I will always see you as my husband's young and naive  _ apprentice _ ..." she placed a hand on his shoulder and proceeded to pat it, "Can you blame me, you haven't aged a day! Well…" she chuckled, "Has any of us done that?"

"Edith, why don't we go and catch up? leave these men alone for a while." She suggested.

"Well, you have to tell me first what are you doing here…" their voices faded into the crowd as they both walked away. Caul kept looking, worrying, why? He knew she was in good hands, he trusted Lydia as much as he trusted Elihu and Edith, perhaps it was the anxiety induced paranoia, perhaps a wrong gut feeling, maybe just that.

"You know how my dearest Lydia used to perform spiritism sessions and seances for us? She's here to see if she can find anything about little Abraham." Cavendish grabbed two glasses of alcohol from the waiter passing by, "Want some, my friend?" 

Caul rejected the offer by a simple hand gesture, "I trust her, but my nerves may make me feel dreadful about this." 

"I told her everything, she knows about our plan…" he drank one entire glass in one go and cleaned his lips.

"Well, the number of people is surely growing."

"It won't go up, friend. I can promise that." Elihu continued drinking from the other glass. A drunk mess, just as Caul remembers, but a good one nonetheless, one who had his back, that's for sure.

"Good. Elihu..." he said, catching his friend's attention, "Make sure to entertain everyone who gets too close to them, we need to keep them distracted."

"Consider that done." 

Lydia and Edith walked among the crowd, Elihu kept his duty of being a distraction and Caul answered even more questions, now he walked near his colleagues who discussed the evening.

_ What a temper, she shouldn't behave like that. Is not natural. _

_ Who does she think she is?  _

_ Just because she is one of us doesn't give that hysterical woman the right to ignore our duty and walk herself around with the creature as if she had given birth to it. _

_ Something she hasn't even been able to to, I may add— _

"—Enjoying the evening, gentlemen?" He interrupted, putting on his best friendly and polite face, even if his tone was the opposite.

"Of course, you've done such a good job, Caul." One of the men spoke, trying to sound like he hadn't been talking ill of the lady of the house, the rest looked away with the same intent. 

"I'm thankful for your praise, but I believe I have something to say." He stepped in and looked at them in the eye, one by one ad he spoke, "While I know I can't control your opinion, I should remind you, _this is my house_ , and you are talking of _my_ _wife_ , refrain from such behaviour as you have no right to disrespect her like that. Good evening."

He walked away, just in time to meet the girls among the crowd. "Langdon, friend, I wish you and this wonderful lady the best with your new family." She said with open arms and a glass of champagne in one hand.

"How were things while you were gone?"

"A couple of… incidents… with the men of the society…" Lydia sneered as she took a sip of her drink.

"You scared them off," Edith said as she laughed with her child being amused at Lydia's mannerisms.

"Give yourself some credit, love, you give them a good fright too."

"Well they deserved it, I will not stand such disrespect." 

"Of course you won't," Lydia laughed and gave her empty glass to one of the passing waiters, "Langdon,may I have a word with you?" She asked.

"Yes, you may—" in that instant Lydia took him by the arm and walked away, he didn't know what to make of it but he figured protesting would be of no help.

"Don't worry, Edith, he'll back be safe and sound and all in one piece!" She made him lean in to whisper into his ear, her tone more serious this time, "Now pay close attention to what I am about to say."

He isn’t sure on what to say, should he be worried? If there is something he knew about Lydia is that the tone she used never meant good news, he waited for her to speak, nervousness growing as she looked around the place as if to make sure nobody was eavesdropping, "Listen closely," she whispered, he paid all the attention he could while trying to hide his reaction from all the eyes around them.

"Elihu told me everything, and whether you believe it or not, what you called nonsensical theories are actually true."

"True? What do you mean with that? You must be joking."

"Look at me, Langdon, look at me in the eye, do I look like I’m playing games right now?" he didn’t dare to look for more than a few seconds, something felt wrong, dreadful, like he shouldn't know what she had to say, "Your wife may not believe it, you may not believe it, but that kid will not remain as an innocent little soul and I know that deep down you and Edith know that."

"Nonsense!" he thought, it was a prank by her and Elihu, right? He wanted to think that all of the  _ new race of Earth _ and _ apocalipsis _ talk wasn’t nothing but the ramblings of a mad man, even if there was a possibility, he trusted Edith’s instinct, and if she said their son would grow up as a normal child then he wanted to believe that was going to happen, but that fear never went away, so far Langdon had manage to forget about it, what harm would such tiny creature do? But said tiny creature would grow up and one day would be a man, one day he would no longer be his innocent newborn son, one day things would change and he had tried to ignore that, "Lydia, if this is so important, why are you only telling me?"

"You think I didn’t talk about this with Edith? You know her, she sees the good in people, even when the situation would dictate the opposite," She looks around, sneering at the gaze of the members of the society, "I have no doubt Abraham is a good child and will grow up to be a good man, but this is not about him wanting it to happen, this is something that  _ will _ happen whether any of us likes it or not. But this is not the reason I’m telling you all of this, because my husband made sure you knew of everything."

Why was she avoiding the topic? All of the chatter and avoidance didn’t help to ease his nerves, was she messing with him? She did that many times before just to see the look of horror in his face, so who said that wasn’t the case, "Langdon, listen, things weren’t meant to be this way—"

"—Then tell me, Lydia, what was meant to happen!? You paraded me around and have told me nothing that we haven’t been told before, so tell me, how were things meant to be?"

"You were meant to take his place." the woman answered dryly. They stopped walking, she looked at him in the eyes and she could tell it was no joke just by the look on her face.

"What?" is all he could muster, "Take his… what does that mean?"

"Well, the ritual failed, and that was meant to happen, just not in that way, the kid wasn’t meant to be born, you,  _ you _ , Langdon Everett Caul, specifically you, were meant to… vanish, for lack of a better word...." she paused, sighed and continued talking as if it was nothing, "Think about it as a possession of some sort, all of you, everything you once were would be erased and you would’ve turned into what your son is, you were meant to be the new race of men, but saving yourself won’t stop anything from happening."

He stood there, silent, what was he meant to say? What did all of that mean? Lies, nonsense, nonsense, she shook his head as if to deny all of that, stepping back and not being able to look at her, "You were meant to lose your humanity, to fall into a slumber and wake up in a new and strange world, to lose everything you ever cared about, and you may have saved yourself and Edith, to which I’m grateful for, but in the long run it all would be been useless, my friend, trust me when I tell you that if you don’t fulfill that role your kid surely will. I’m not sure how to break this to Edith, so I leave it to you. Good luck, old friend."

His heart sank, his expression twisting into a panicked look, he felt lightheaded, was he meant to know that? It was a habit to reach out for his box of cigars, why did he have to forget it? He couldn't just leave for the sake of smoking, could he? He needed to sit, Langdon left without saying a word, grabbing a glass of alcohol from one of the waiters who walked around, whatever Lydia had told him couldn’t be true, she had to be lying, probably a sick joke, right? If that was the case why did he believe it? Saved himself and Edith, what did all of that mean?

"Don’t lie to yourself, you know it’s true, you fool, you idiot…" he told himself, he drank from his glass, and another one, and another one, it didn’t matter if he broke his promise, he wasn’t drunk yet, even if he wished to be.

"My love, you look like you’ve seen a ghost." how would he tell her? He didn’t have the words, he didn’t have the guts, “Are you drinking?” she asked in a slightly mad tone, "Are you drunk, Langdon?"

He took her hand and sat down in the chairs near the window, "Not yet," he said as they did that.

"Langdon, what is happening? Is something wrong?" He took a look at the kid, noticing how he was asleep on his mother’s arms, all peaceful, calm, quiet, "Abraham fell asleep, don’t worry about him. Now, tell me what is happening. Did Lydia scare you with one of her jokes?"

"I hope that was the case..." he thought, "I— I’m alright, just… you know I don’t do well with big crowds..."

He knew that look, she didn’t believe him, "Langdon, don’t lie to me…" she said softly, "You promised to keep no secrets from me..." she places her hands over his, he proceeded to cradle it in both his hand and to kiss it, trying to calm himself, slow down his breathing, to make sense of things. 

"And I won’t," he said, "But this is not the place to speak of that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This all made sense in my head, I swear...


	9. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elihu is drunk and barely functional but he can't let his guard down, there is something going on around him and he had to be there for his friends when things start to go down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to write drunks, I don't ever drink yet here I am trying to write drunk Cavendish...

He'd done what his friend had requested, despite his head spinning and his throat burning at each sip from his glass, Elihu Cavendish manage to stand in two feet and be an absolute chatterbox with a repertory of sailor tales and scientific facts that would baffle even the most unimpressive sould due to the sheer absurdity most of them had. 

The society knew he was closed with Caul, he had taken the man as his apprentice all those decades ago in 1817, however, nobody expected him knowing Edith with such detail though, and Elihu seemed to be trapped in various interrogations about the new member, "Do not speak of her like that, I do believe she's quite a competent woman." He told them.

Once in a while he would check in on the kid he'd been calling nephew all along, making sure nobody tried anything outside glaring and whispering. Cavendish liked to think he did a good job, congratulating himself with even more liquor and some well earned snack, he sat at a table stuffing his mouth with small sandwiches and a glass of white wine on one hand, Lydia, his wife, next to Edith and her child, approached him.

"Elihu, darling, can we talk for a moment– Excuse me, Edith, but you know how things are, we have to check up on our foolish husbands at times…" before he could even answer she grabbed him by the sleeve and made him abruptly stand up.

"Now listen to me, you drunken bastard, I need a good look at that kid, entertain her and I'll do my job, I'll let you know when I'm done, understand?" She whispered into his ear and Elihu swore she was about to rip out the fabric of his shirt with her gript, the man just nodded and she nonchalantly turned her back and talked to Edith.

"If my husband calls young Abraham his nephew then I suppose I'm his aunt, may I have a moment with the little one?" She asked.

"By all means." And the moment Lydia took the baby in her arms Elihu didn't hesitate to step in and talk with his friend.

"Edith, I believe haven't told you how stunning you look this evening!" He bowed in his usual exaggerated fashion and waited until her laughter started to die down, "Is that the dress from France Langdon got you? The one I recommended? My God, it looks even better with the alterations you made!," he said, "Though… I'm disappointed you didn't go through with your plan of wearing gentleman's attire, the look on Langdon's face would've been priceless!" He left out a chuckle as Edith laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Elihu Cavendish, you are so blunt I can't tell whether you are drunk or not," she said, "Sit down, you know your talking makes me feel better." 

Slightly stumbling over his steps, he pulled out the chair for Edith to sit and he proceeded to do the same after she thanked him. 

He talks in between hiccups, "What do you think?" He asks, "Are our meetings of your liking?"

"Quite over the top for me, too many ridiculous rules and procedures." He cackles at her remark.

"You've spent too much time with Lydia, I can tell."

"A drink for my friend and I, of the finest wines, please" he told the waiter and started drinking as soon as he got his glass. Edith took the smallest sip she could with the excuse of not wanting to be drunk.

"How have things been?" His voice slightly slurred, "We didn't have much time to catch up after your initiation this morning!"

"I… I have been doing well, I think, the usual stress of motherhood and well, this event…" she takes another small sip, Elihu notices how her tone shifts from her usual self to one of avoidance, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not lying."

"Never said you were, Mrs. Edith…"

"I know that look, Elihu…" he didn't say anything, just nodded as if to say  _ fair enough  _ and finished his glass of wine, sighing after doing so.

"I'm here to talk." He told her, resting his head on his hand, he could already feel his eyelids getting heavier and the slight feeling of the drink coming up his throat. She sighs, her final sip after pulling away a half empty glass.

"Perhaps it was the nerves, perhaps I'm on edge because of all these stupid men walking in my house but…" she puts her hands on her temples as she talks, "... I've been losing sleep, perhaps too much, and there are days when I feel like a ghost, an empty shell, I thought this would go away ever since we got the baby but—" Elihu listened to each word carefully, doing his best not to drift away, he wondered why she stopped, "—This is… sorry, forget that…"

"Have you talked to Langdon about it?" He managed to say, he worried about her, Cavendish had seen it before, the days when she would stare at the ocean, unresponsive to the world around her,  _ "Not another incident…"  _ Even with his lack of soberness, he knew he needed to be there for his friend.

"Yes, worry not, I've been… working things out, trying to make sense of things, everything has happened so fast that I… I'll be alright once we are done with this…"

He was about to speak, clearing his throat and doing his best effort to talk past the alcohol when a familiar hand of long and elegant fingers rested itself upon his shoulder.

"You were right, you mad sea captain, you were right…" Lydia whispered into his ear and she spoke with gritted teeth, she carried an sleepy Abraham on her arms, which she gave to Edith once she was done talking to him. Elihu just looked at the women interacting like old friends, what did Lydia meant? His mind couldn't focus on anything, she told him he was right, but his memory was failing him, unable to point at anything in particular.

It was a matter of seconds until the realization hit him like a boulder, "Elihu you fool," he mumbled under his breath as the two ladies walked away, "How could you forget? That kid will lead the new race of men…"

He didn't realize how much time had passed, he wasn't even sure of his actions, all he knew is that he needed to sober up quickly, for the past minutes or perhaps hours, he wasn't sure, he'd been doing as his friend requested and keeping all the prying eyes away from his nephew, now, he saw his closest friend panicked and acting frantically as Edith clutched her sleeping son. All of the guests of the society were leaving, his wife, Lydia, approached him, he'd seen her talking to Caul before.

"What did you tell him? What did you tell her?" He asked, meeting Lydia's usual cold stare, his voice croaky thanks to the liquor.

"Nothing you hadn't told them." She answered.

"Look at Langdon, he looks as pale as a ghost, and Edith is way more calm than this, what did you tell them, woman?" Elihu pointed at the couple as they said their goodbyes to the society. Lydia sighed, she grabbed him by the chin and made him lean down.

"What they needed to know, your sailor over there may have saved himself from becoming the same as his son, but bringing the kid to life isn't going to stop anything!"

"Becoming  _ what?"  _ He asked, freeing himself from her hand, "Lydia, what is this?"

"I'm thankful that our friends are still with us, but in the long run we will all be doomed. Now, go talk to them, I'll take care of the rest…" Elihu watched his wife disappear into the crowd, if there was something he knew about that woman,it was that she knew how to talk her way out of every dire situation.

"She'll be alright," he told himself, stumbling up to where his friends were.

"Langdon, what is happening, what is so secretive that you can't tell me about it now?" 

"Just wait until everyone is gone, I don't want them to know anything…"

He heard them talking, all sounds were like mumbles, he couldn't focus on anything, was the floor moving or were his eyes deceiving him? He couldn't just call it a day and let the alcohol overtake him, not yet at least,he felt tired, so tired, "Caul! Mrs. Edith" He called out, "Finishing so soon?" He did his best to sound as if he was joking.

"Cavendish, not now," Langdon hushed him, pointing at the moving crowd who was walking through the door, "Stay as long as you want but I would appreciate your help with making sure everyone goes away, so please, if you would help with that—"

"—Say no more," orders, orders, more pointless orders, he wanted answers, he wanted to know what was going on, but he also knew that it wasn't safe to have the society around.

He doesn't remember much of the following, rushing to the living room as the couple discussed, the sounds of the baby crying, Lydia telling him to stay awake. He passed out on the couch and woke up feeling like he'd been brutally murdered and brought back to life. According to his wife it only had been a couple of hours, she explained everything to him, the baby was asleep on his crypt, Caul sat on his usual armchair, cigar on his mouth, Edith walked all over the place, hair all messy and she had gotten rid of all her jewelry, Lydia was next to him, helping him to sit.

"I refuse to believe it, this must be a mistake,  _ my son _ is not a monster," she protested, "Langdon, you can't be serious, you  _ cannot _ be serious, look at him? Do you really think Abraham would be capable of doing something even remotely similar to what you people say he would?"

"Edith, is not whether he wants it or not, it  _ will _ happen—"

"—Well I myself will make sure that it doesn't!"

Each word and scream gave his head an awful stinging sensation, the candlelight shining right into his eyes was killing him, he moved the candelabra away and tried to speak even if his mouth felt like a dry desert, "Mrs. Edith, it is unavoidable—"

"—It is  _ not  _ unavoidable, I know it, I just know it," Edith frantically moved her hands all over the place, clutching her hair and pressing her fingers around her temples, "Langdon, my love, you said you were meant to take his place, if that was the case, you'd think you'd want to do any harm?"

"Is not about what I want or what he would want, it would just… happen." He stood up and holded his wife's wrist to keep them from moving, "Edith, listen, I love our son, but we cannot avoid it."

"We will raise him like any other kid and I know one day he'd be a good man, but we cannot stop anything from happening." He told her.

"You would've lost your memory," Lydia interrupted, "You wouldn't remember anything if you were in his place, who's to say that version of you would hold the same standards, but who knows, I could be wrong…"

He could see the distress in Edith's eyes, he could see the fear on Langdon's face, what was he gonna do? Could he even do anything? He turned to look at Lydia, eyes pleading for an answer, the more the couple talked the more fastest his heart raced, his stomach felt all mixed up, he could feel the vile rising up his throat. He had to be excused as he rushed to the outsides of the house to throw up, he came back tripping over his own steps and doing his best to pretend he was fine.

He was told Caul had ordered tea for them, the maid just showed up with a tray and left with no word, "Excuse the delay," said Edith, "We actually, don't hire many maids or any staff, especially after the baby came… most of them are busy with cleaning up right now," she takes her cup, the rest do the same and Elihu follows.

The smell feels comforting, distracting him from his hangover, "Normally it's just the two of us… three, now, we can handle it on our own…" she explains.

"I didn't have anyone over for too long unless I was gone, for the sake of secrecy, I even locked rooms from them, then Edith and I got married and I only had people coming over when I left so Edith wouldn't be left alone…" Caul took a sip of his cup and looked down, he intercalated between drinking tea and taking a drag of his cigar, "We never let them see the kid, we end up covering him from head to toe if he must go out…"

"The neighbors think he's sick, a skin condition, that I hid a pregnancy and it was a rough delivery, that's enough for them to give us some space." He listened to the way Edith's voice had some sort of defeated tone, the woman who had been so determined hours ago now looked down at her cup.

"You two are doing a good job," Lydia broke her usual sarcastic tone, "All of my and Elihu's children are grown up and left the nest, I think I have enough experience to tell you it will be fine."

"He'll be a good man, and let's not worry about the future for a while." Cavendish raised his cup for a toast, the rest followed, "For the present!" He says as everyone else repeats and they all drink.

"I have to check up on the baby." Edith stands up, leaving her half empty cup on the coffee table, fixing her dress and walking upstairs.

He notices how Caul kept smoking before finishing his drink, recalling the first time he ever gave him a cigar, chuckling to the memory of him coughing and being confused, things seemed to calm down,or at least he hoped.

That didn't last.

Edith rushed downstairs, making everyone stand up as they heard her cries from the other room, a look of terror on her face, sobbing, disheveled, panting, "The baby is gone…" she said.

The room went silent, Caul stood up and reached for his wife, she repeated the same words all over again. He didn't hesitate to hold his wife, Lydia and Elihu stood up and slowly approached the couple, Lydia covering her mouth with her hands. 

Edith broke down into tears and screams as Cavendish stood there in shock, dropping his cup, the porcelain breaking as it hit the floor and making a loud, cracking, sound as the distressed mother whailed while her husband holded her.

"The baby is gone! They took my son,  _ they took my son! _ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I regret nothing...


	10. Whatever it takes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tThey took away her child, they took away her son, Edith can't help but to feel the dreadfulness overcoming her and clouding all of her senses, but she won't stay silent, she won't let them get away, whatever is takes to make them pay is none of her concers, after all, a desperate mother is not someone to be messed with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... just five more chapters from here.

No, no, no, it couldn't be, it couldn't be, a few hours ago every single wretched member of that damned cult had left their home, they were safe,  _ they were safe _ , Edith had gone to check on their son, she had left little Abraham on his crypt, just a few weeks ago they discovered he could sleep outside of water and she had made sure her son had all the commodities a baby could have, she tucked him in in his usual blanket with the little plushies of fish and frogs, he was fine, she expected him to be sleeping soundly yet there was nothing.

The window was closed, she knocked over every single object, his crib being the only thing that was disturbed, her heart sank, her hands went cold, shaking, she couldn't breath, "Abraham?" She cried, "Abraham, where are you?" Edith's voice cracked, "Abraham! Abe! My child, where are you!?" No, no, no, she shook her head, "Son! Abraham!" He had to be somewhere, their room! Maybe he crawled to their room, he couldn't go downstairs yet, she rushed to her and Langdon's room and looked all over the place, nothing, nothing.

She screamed, her chest tightened, her back killing her, af if she had needles pressed upon her spine, her shoulders tense, she rushed all over the place, he had to be there, anything, just anything, a clue of where her son could be. Tears rolled down her cheeks, she fell to the ground, clutching her sides as she felt her ribs burn like hot iron on her skin, she whimpered as she called her son's name, "It was them, they took my child,  _ they took my child! _ " Who else would it be? Those disgusting men from the Oannes Society, how did they even do that? How? She knew why, but how come none of them saw them? How come Abraham didn't cry or make a noise? How come they didn't hear anything.

She rushed downstairs, her husband holding her back as she kicked and screamed, "They took my son!" 

She couldn't talk, whether it was the tears or the knot on her throat, her vision was blurred, eyelids heavy.

"No, no, no…" she heard her husband whisper, "This can't be… this just can't—"

His face went pale, drained of every color, eyes wide open, "Bastards! Damned be every single day of their vile existence, bastards!" 

She had no words, she heard the maids and servants rushing to the room, hushed voices and comments, they thought she was crazy, an hysterical woman, wasn't that right? What did they know?, it was her son,  _ her  _ son who was missing and in the hands of monsters.

His voice was trembling, hands shaking, "Quick, look for anything out of place!" Langdon ordered the staff, Edith's knees were weak, he had to help her to sit down, kneeling down to meet her eyes, drying the tears off her face, "I will not rest until something is done, that I can promise…" he landed a kiss on her forehead as she clutched his hand, "We will have our son back," he spoke fast, hands still trembling, "We will have our son back." 

She raised up her head, clutching her husband's hands, biting her lips "We must bring him back." She rested her head on his hands, she could listen to him muttering.

_ Be alright, by anything that is sacred, please, be alright, let my son be safe, be alright, please, please be alright... _

"I have a plan, I can try to read the room, maybe I can get an image of what happened," Lydia exclaimed, "If you allow me—"

"—Do what you must." Edith said. Lydia rushed upstairs, Edith pressed her head against her hands, rocking back and forward as she tried to calm her breathing down.

"I hate to be the harbinger of bad news…" said Cavendish, "But they won't just take the child and leave like that, they know we will realize it was them, and they can't hide him from us."

"That means…" a shiver went down her spine, "This has to be a nightmare, this  _ can't _ be happening, it just can't…" she covered her mouth as she gasped in fear, terrified at the idea.

"Darling, we must leave!" She heard her husband talking, "What about you, Elihu, you are in danger too."

"I will be fine, I know how to disappear, take your belongings and leave, I'll offer my ship to take you away, look for  _ The Dyonisus _ on the docks and I will be there." 

Elihu proceeded to storm off the room as they stood up, not without clarifying some things, "Lydia will be fine, tell her about this, they are too afraid of her to harm her." He left immediately after saying that.

One of the maids approached them, "Sir, we found nothing, lady Cavendish has locked herself in the boy's room, she refused to open to anyone but you and the lady of the house, what shall we do? Should we contact the authorities?"

"Tell Foster to get two horses and a carriage directed to  _ Cavendish Hall  _ and another one headed towards the docks, tell Prudence to prepare our traveling luggage, after that all of you can go home, no questions asked." Langdon said, after the woman nodded left they both went upstairs, rushing over to Abraham's room where Edith kept knocking over the door until Lydia recognized her voice.

She ran inside once Lydia opened the door, "What happened? What did you say? Any clue? Any idea?" She asked frantically, shaking the woman by the arms.

"They're taking him to that place, that laboratory Abe was born.The same people, the same damned four people… Langdon, those bastards you call colleagues, they made one of those stupid waiters from the society stick around and enter the room!" Lydia turned her gaze at him with the most scolding look she could master, "I've heard of Elihu's plan when reading the house, go look for me in case you need any help."

"Ma'am, sir, your belongings are packed," interrupted the maid called Prudence, the young lady didn't even dare to get near the door.

"I'll go see if everything is in order." Langdon left the room, the poor young lady seemed to run away from the corridor as fast as she could, leaving Lydia and Edith alone.

Lydia gasped for air, she seemed tired, "This reading can be quite draining, but I will be fine," she told Edith, "Listen, if it is of any help, I have the feeling he isn't harmed."

"Feeling? Can't you be more certain?" She gritted her teeth and bit her lip for the sake of not letting out another sob, "Lydia, a gut feeling won't suffice—"

"—Is not a gut feeling, is  _ not  _ a gut feeling, friend." She put her hands on her shoulders just to calm her down, "I won't lie to you, things are dire, dreadful, but crying won't help, you must get to somewhere safe or else nobody will be able to help your kid, now go, your family needs you." 

Lydia lightly pushed her on her way outside the room, Edith said no word, she couldn't think of any, her thoughts were a mess of anger and desperation, nothing was clear, the hallways of the house never felt so suffocating, so unfamiliar, the lack of candlelight didn't help, she felt as if she was being swallowed by the darkness around her, her frantic footsteps being her only company as she rushed to her room, the walk that took seconds felt like minutes, she abruptly opened the door and slammed it shut as her husband finished to change his formal attire to something he could travel with.

She got rid of her dress and changed all of her garments to something more practical, barely even bothering to fix her hair, she kept looking for something in the closet, "Where is it? Where is it?" She mumbled. 

"Edith—" she turned back to meet her husband's eyes, he tried to get her to stop, "We must leave, now."

"Just one second…" she kept scrambling among old clothes and objects until she spotted a rifle hidden in a corner, she took it and made sure it was charged, there was a small bag with bullets, which she hid on her clothing and strapped the weapon to her back, "What?"

"I didn't plan to say anything…" she knew he was startled, the way he backed off and his eyes growing wider, his tone becoming quieter and somber, she didn't care, she wouldn't take any more risk. 

"Let's go now." And with those words she adjusted the rifle on her back they were on their way.

The following was a blur, saying their goodbyes and going through the least concurred paths that lead to the docks, horses running fast enough to make the carriage tremble, the sound of hooves breaking the silence, looking for that familiar old ship on the docks, among the cold morning fog, rushing to go onboard, she couldn't get the feeling of dread to die down, she told herself to keep herself together but deep down in her mind the only thing she did was to count head and to count bullets.

"I'll get us far enough that they won't be able to see us." Elihu had told them and sure enough, as soon as Edith realized they were in open seas, no land visible, she hadn't been wasting time. She stood above deck under the cloudy sky, wind blowing on her face and the smell of salt in the air, she had been shooting old sacks of flour as a way to keep her head distracted. Elihu was at his cabin, the man didn’t dare to say a word, Langdon did nothing but to roam around and smoke, for the first time in years Edith couldn’t care less about that.

She didn’t hear him walking up to her, "My ocean…" her husband said, carefully placing his hands on her shoulders. Her stance tensed, this time she didn’t pull the trigger.

"Do not try to stop me," Edith couldn't bring herself to get her eyes away from the target, her heart ached, her eyes were puffy from all the crying, she hadn't slept, could she even rest? Should she even rest? Act like nothing had happened was simply ridiculous to her, an impossible task too.

"Are you willing to…"

"Yes, yes, I think I am…" she sighs, the words feel heavy, part of her doubts her own statement, "Don't you bother into defending them, don't you dare—"

"—I won't…" with those words she turned around to meet his gaze, "I won't stop you, that's our only plan…"

She relaxed her stance and left the rifle on the floor, "My love…"

"Those people…" he sighs, Edith doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him, "All I achieved, all I ever did, everything was thanks to them, I used to think I had found my place in the society, how could I be so blind?" his voice broke, he proceeded to take in her embrace and hid his face on her shoulders.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Edith pulled away and place his hands on his chin just to raise his head to look at him in the eyes, one hand tracing circles with her thumb on his cheek, she tried smiling, which turned out to be a difficult talk and she could only manage to faintly grin and sigh.

"I did this to us…" he whispered, "You are too forgiving, I brought this upon us, my love, I put you on risk thanks to my own hubris, it’s my fault that this happened to our kid—" there were tears in his eyes, his voice grew weaker, hands clutching her arms, Edith watched as her husband slowly fell to his knees, her heart shrinked, a knot on her throat formed and she kneeled down, arms wrapping around his shoulders, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

She went back to sobbing once again, trying to keep her head up,  _ "Be strong, be strong," _ she told herself, she wished everything was a nightmare, that she could wake up, that none of that had ever happened, she wished that things were alright, to be safe and sound at their home, surrounded by her family. Her shoulders were tense, slouching just a little,hands on Langdon's shoulders as the man broke down into yet another apology.

"For decades I did their work, for decades I ignored every single questionable thing I thought I was aiming for a greater purpose, I am nothing but a madman who doomed the only good in his life—" he kept slowly moving his head from one side to the other as he spoke.

"—I should apologize too," said the familiar voice of british accent that had been with them, "Langdon, my friend, it is my fault you ever knew about this…" Elihu slowly walked towards them, Edith slowly stood up and helped her husband to do the same, she didn’t know what to ever say, she recalls the days they traveled together, some of them vague, others too ridiculous to even take seriously. They told her Elihu worked for Caul’s family, that one day Langdon decided to leave and joined his crew, she didn’t want to elaborate on details, but that was a part she didn’t know and would rather left for another moment.

"Elihu, no, I did this on my own—"

"—I was the one who made you join, I’m as guilty as you are…"

Words, words, empty words, nonsensical, things Edith couldn’t care about, she was tired, restless, tense, they were losing time, doing nothing and dwelling into their own pettiness, "shut up, shut up, shut up…" she repeated that on her mind all over again, "Shut up...", her heart beated faster, voices became muffled, the pressure on her head growing.

"We have to do something about this,” is all she could hear, words from her husband, Edith didn’t hesitate to pick up her rifle at that moment and strab her to her back once again, she had enough and something inside of her told her to act up quickly.

"We had a plan, didn't we?" She muttered, catching the men's attention, "It didn't work out, so we have to think of something else."

"Edith, please don't do anything reckless—"

"Reckless? How the tables have turned, I do believe I'm usually the one telling you to behave." She told her husband. "Lydia said he was in the same place he was born in, we can go there, nobody would be expecting us." Her tone had turned monotonous, eyes looking at the floor, her voice had turned raspy for all the crying.

"Mrs. Edith, what if they  _ are  _ expecting us?" Cavendish added, he walked towards her and tried to put his hand on her shoulder, to which Edith responded to it by jumping back in surprise, she looked directly at his eyes, she wasn't going to give up, she  _ couldn't _ give up.

"I told you I used to hunt, didn't I?" Elihu's eyes darted to the rifle on her back and then at her, the realization dawning on him, Edith trusted that he wouldn't try to stop her, "If they dared to lay a finger upon my child then I would have nothing to lose…"

"Edith, no! I won't let you do this—"

"And what is your plan, Langdon? To walk into that wretched place and ask nicely? I can handle myself, I'll be alright," she bit her lip, trying to find any word to make things feel better, "You promise nothing would happen to Abraham, that you wouldn't let them do any harm, what is the thing you say? That you are a man of your word?"

He sighs, nobody speaks a word, she didn't care about anything anymore and if she had to die then so be it, let the waters claim her soul, at least she would die for the ones she loved, assuming they even had the guts to try to stop her, if her hands were to be tainted by blood it would be the one of those deserving it.

She sighs, she hears seagulls, those damned seagulls, different from the men surrounding her, they actually have the courage to make a sound.

"Elihu, we need to go to Washington,  _ now _ ." She ordered, she watched the man snort, she heard him chuckle and part of her wondered if on that moment Elihu deserved to be kicked off board.

"Those bastards turned me into the wreck of a man I am now, they made me put aside every single important person in my life and are the reason for my madness and suffering… I won't mind being part of plan, Mrs. Edith."

She smiled at him, hope, she had hope, a small, dimitute, portion of hope that whatever suicidal ordeal she was planning would work out. Her eyes lit up when hearing her husband's voice, "I'm at your side no matter what, and if this is our only choice then I won't hold you back…"

"We need to think this through… we can't go in blind…"

"I know the place like the back of my hand, I can't fight but I can sure be enough of a distraction. I can enter the place, you take care of the people and we take our son…"

"No, no, they will not stop so easily," said Elihu.

"They will if my aim doesn't fail—"

"—There will be more than just four men, and heaven knows what kind of things the rest will do to stop us."

Caul kept looking at the floor, tapping his feet on the wooden floor and muttering to himself, Edith noticed, soon enough Elihu did the same too, "You still have the explosives from your arctic expeditions?"

Edith's eyes were wide open, did her ears deceive her? "Langdon, you bloody deranged bastard…" she heard Elihu say, she heard him cackle, "How much of a grudge do you hold against them?"

"They took  _ our son _ , Elihu, it is a justified grudge." Edith grabbed his arm and leaned towards him. His tone was broken, she knew him well enough to realize something about him was different, but something about her had changed too, and she knew there was no turning back.

"The whole hospital is a facade, an empty place for the society to hide themselves," Langdon said, "I feel no remorse on getting rid of it." 

"Cult…"

"Excuse me?"

"It's a cult, not a society…" Edith explained.

He sighs, "They dragged us into a cult…"

"They're going down… We better get going, practice your shooting, Mrs Edith, and make us a map, my sailor, we'll soon be in that wretched place." Elihu said, "Rise sails and prepare the ship, we're ready to sail." With that he left as the couple was left alone.

Edith looked at him in the eyes, sighing, she embraced her beloved in her arms as she fought back tears, on that moment all she needed was to be held close and tight and a small whimper escaped her lips as she buried her fer face on his the space between his neck and shoulder. He kissed her forehead, brushing the hair strands out of her face, hands holding her face as she closed her eyes.

"I'm tired… I'm so tired… Why can't this stop? Why can't we have some happiness once and for all?" She said.

"Hush, hush now, my love…" he told her softly, "Now rest…"

She shook her head, "How am I supposed to rest—" 

"—Sooner or later, you won't be able to stand on your own two feet, I can stay awake for a little longer, go to sleep." he carefully holded her head, hands on her cheeks, she took one and leaned towards that side, their fingers interlaced and she drove said hand to her lips, kissing he backside of his pal.

Their foreheads pressed together as she felt her eyes slowly shut down, she tried to hold in a yawm yet ended up failing, "We well get our child back," she said, "That much I know…"

She dreamed of better days, sitting near a lake, feeding the ducks, leaning on her husband's chest as he read to them, little Abraham rested on her lap, she longed to see him grow up, his first steps, his first words, to see what he does, what he likes, the breeze was cold, leaves falling, the sun setting down, too much breeze, too many leaves, too dark too soon, where was his son? She didn't hear him moving, she didn't see him, "Abraham?" She called, "Langdon, have you seen Abraham—" he was gone,  _ gone,  _ she stood up, looking all over as her heart raced, pounding against her chest, "Langdon, Abraham, where are you!?" She cried as she felt hands grabbing her arms and feet, "Where are you!?" She cried as the world faded to dark.

She woke up in a cold sweat. Langdon was there, he quickly woke up, she breathed heavily, tears falling down her eyes, "My love, what happened?" He asked, she threw herself at his arms, holding him as tight as possible, she wouldn't let him go, no, not him too, "My love…"

"I don't want to lose anyone, Langdon," she said as she raised her head to look at him in the eye, "They will pay and we will get our son back." 

"We will get him back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gang is down for murder!!!


	11. Taken away.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He is just a child, a baby, who are they? what are they doing, somebody has to help him, somebody has to stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WRITING BABIES IS HARD!

Where was he? Where was he? Mom, dad, where were they? Those men, he remembers them, all blurry faces, muffled voices, what's that thing? It's dark, he can feel them, he can feel them near, he has to move, why can't he move? 

He can't walk yet, he tried standing up, how will he get down? Who's that? Who's there? Has he seen him before? Earlier his parents had carried him around all over the place, did he see him there? "Sorry little one," the man said, sorry? No, no, no, he has to scream, he will scream, somebody, anybody, help,  _ help! _

Why isn't there any sound? He starts tearing up, the man barely makes any sound. There's something on his hand, it shines, sharp, he has a flask of… he doesn't know what that is, he wants to cry for help, the man launches forward, he hold him tight and restrains his mouth, it hurts, _ it hurts,  _ a stinging pain on his arm, something running on his veins, tears escape his eyes, he kicks and twists, the man lifts him and starts walking, where is he going? Stop, stop, no, no, no, mom, dad! Help!

He feels the sleepiness return, eyes heavy, he  _ has  _ to stay awake, they're going down the window, the man runs after hitting the ground, they're there, oh no, no, no,  _ they're _ there, the people he saw on his nightmares, those men who talked to his dad, the mean ones who had him locked down and called him all sorts of names, he had to be awake, he couldn't fell asleep—

—Dark, dark, he knew they were out there,  _ dissection, experiment, specimen, _ what did those words mean? He tried stretching, his tiny limbs restricted by thick glass, he kicked and screamed, he felt the eyes looking at him, that cold stare, where was his dad? Where was his mom? Help, he heard steps, help!

"Feed him, there is fish in that bucket."

Food? He wasn't hungry, he wanted to get out, one needed to get out, to go back home, to be safe with his parents, out, out, not food, out, they threw fish at him, raw, cold, dead eyes staring at him, he cried, nobody listened, help!

"Get that thing to sleep and we will prepare everything for tomorrow," said one of the monsters, he did not want to sleep, he didn't need more sleep.

"What about the traitors?" Another asked.

"We sent some… cleaning  _ services to _ their home…" answers another.

Whatever was the feeling that those people gave him couldn't be good, he cried and protested until one of them went directly to his tank, the man sneered, "Get away from me! No, no!"

He poured something on the water, he didn't know what was that, the world faded to black, "Help," he pleaded, "Help, help!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDK, Abe's a smart kid, who knows what was going on on his child mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I literally only showed this to one person before so it's open for beta readers.


End file.
